


Dancing on Ivory

by Imtoopickywithusernames



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, First Time, Fluff, Homophobia, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Character Death, References to Canon, Slight neck kink, Smut, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-04 04:21:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 43,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2928617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imtoopickywithusernames/pseuds/Imtoopickywithusernames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan's fingers danced across the keys, playing notes nobody really paid any attention to, except, it would seem, a raven haired boy at the back of the room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Notice

Dan's fingers danced across the ivory keys in a way they knew all too well. There was sheet music in front of him, but he had no need of it anymore, he merely flipped the pages to look a little more professional, and a small part of him hoped someone would come over and recognise what he was playing, but that hadn't happened yet. Not in the 6 years he had been working here. Every other day since he was 16 he would come into the same restaurant at 4pm, sit at the same piano, and play the same 20 songs for the same 6 hours until he went home at 10. It was a bit repetitive, but Dan liked it that way, even if he did sometimes wish something else would happen.

He announced that he was going to take a short break, as he always did, and stood up. The room was a little more packed than usual. Maybe there was a party of some sort going on. Nobody was looking in his direction, but he smiled and bowed, just in case, then headed towards the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Evening Daniel." The head chef, Louise, greeted him cheerfully, looking up momentarily from what looked like soup. He nodded at her, looking around the kitchen. He had always loved the smell of it in here. It always smelled so deliciously fattening. He walked over to the fridge and took a glass of water from inside. Somehow the water always tasted better after it was chilled. Dan took a sip and smiled slightly as the cool liquid refreshed his mouth and throat. Playing the piano for 3 hours was surprisingly tiring. "Hey!" Someone shouted in his ear, making him yelp and almost drop the glass. He turned around to find Chris, one of the waiters, laughing. "Don't do that!" Dan said, taking a steadying breath.  
"Sorry, it's just really funny."  
"Won't be so funny when you're cleaning up the mess." He grumbled, taking another drink of water. Chris stood up straight and stretched his arms above his head. "Ah lighten up Danny boy."  
"Don't call me that."  
"I have never called you 'that', Danny boy." He winked at Dan, and Dan glowered back. "So how's the piano playing going?"  
"No different to usual."  
"No explosions? Nobody hitting on you from one of the booths? No hitting the wrong note?"  
"No, Chris. As if anyone would hit on me. And what would cause an explosion at a piano in a restaurant anyway?" He asked, grinning a little at Chris, who shrugged.   
"I dunno, maybe someone might think that throwing a bomb at you is flirting?"  
"Chris, it's more likely the entire restaurant spontaneously combusts than someone tries to flirt with me." He raised his eyebrow at Chris, daring him to say otherwise. He had had 2 dates in his entire life, both with the same person, and then he had realised he was gay, so dumped her promptly and as kindly as he could. After that he had tried many times to gain a guy's interest, each time to no avail. He just wasn't very interesting, or attractive, so he'd given up.

He looked at his watch, 7:15pm, time for him to go back out. He said goodbye to Chris and headed back out to the dining area. Everyone was seated as they were, and Dan couldn't tell whether they had missed the background music, or if they even noticed it was gone. They were all laughing and talking just as they had been when he had left, though something felt different. He peered around the room again, slower this time, and his eyes landed on one boy, alone at a table, an empty plate in front of him, who was watching him. Dan frowned. This wasn't something that usually happened. But maybe the boy was just watching him for lack of anything else to do, and as he had just exited the kitchen, he was currently the most interesting thing in the room. Yeah, that was probably it. He ran a finger through his hair, trying to neaten it up slightly, as it was starting to go wavy due to the heat in the room, and went back to his place at the piano. He flipped the music to the song he would next be playing, and began to move his fingers again. As he was playing he looked up. The boy was still watching him, but more intently now. 'It's just because you're playing the piano Dan, nothing more.' he thought to himself, looking down at the keys.

Throughout the rest of his performance the boy watched him, and Dan couldn't help but look back, slightly unnerved by the prospect of someone actually paying attention to him. When he finished his final song for the evening he looked up once more to where the boy had been sitting, but the seat was empty and there was money on the table. Dan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Nonetheless he stood, bowed, thanked them all for coming, and left, saying goodbye to the people in the kitchen as he went.

Dan pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders as the cool night air hit him at full force. He shivered, wishing for the millionth time that he could afford a car and not have to take a bus, but no such luck. Piano playing isn't exactly the best paying job in the world. The bus stop wasn't too far from the restaurant, a 5 minute walk at most. He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed over to it, keeping his head bowed in an attempt to keep warmer.

"Damn  wish I had brought my coat." He muttered, sitting down on the bench at the bus stop.  
"Want to borrow mine?" A voice came from next to him, making him jump. He hadn't noticed anyone there when he had arrived. Then again he had had his head down. The stranger came into Dan's line of vision, holding out a coat. Dan looked up and his mouth dropped slightly. "You're the guy from the restaurant!" He said, sounding rather stupid. The stranger tilted his head, looking a little confused.  
"Well, I was just there, yes, and you were playing the piano, but how did you recognise me?"  
"You were watching me." Dan replied simply, but only making the stranger look even more confused. "Nobody ever really watches me," Dan explained, "Occasionally they look over, but no-one has ever actually paid attention before."  
"Why not? You're a brilliant pianist!" He said, sitting down next to Dan. Dan chuckled.  
"No, I'm not, but thanks anyway."  
"No but you are! It was beautiful!"  
"Thank you." Dan said, turning his head away, not knowing what else to say. There was a long, awkward pause. "Do you want to borrow my coat? You look freezing." The stranger said, holding up his coat again and shaking it. Dan shook his head. "No, you'll be cold then."  
"I'll be fine, my car is just down the street, and then I can be home in less than 10 minutes. I insist, I can just come get it from you." He wrapped the coat around Dan without waiting for his answer. "I hope to see you again soon." He said, standing up and walking away before Dan could get another word in. He sighed and put his arms through the sleeves. It was warm and it smelled wonderful. Was this was the stranger always smelled like? If so, Dan liked it.

The bus arrived shortly, and Dan clambered on, grateful for the emptiness of the seats. He put his hands in the pockets of the stranger's coat and  his fingers found a small slip of paper. He frowned and pulled it out. 'The name's Phil. Text me: 078 6465 1490 ;)' Dan smiled and put the paper back into his own pocket, keeping his fingers wrapped around it the entire way back to his apartment.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan's apartment wasn't exactly high class. It was the cheapest place he could find, but it did it's job. There was heat, and the roof didn't leak, and the water usually worked, so Dan didn't mind it. He flicked the light switch and the room flooded with light. Flickering light. "Damn it. Guess I need to change the bulb. Again." Dan said to himself, looking up at the flickering light. He shook his head. He could do that tomorrow, right now he was tired, and had a phone number to add. His fingers clutched a little more tightly at the piece of paper in his pocket. He didn't understand why he felt so thrilled about this small piece of paper. For all he knew, the stranger could have got that note from some other guy named Phil and had forgotten about it, but Dan couldn't seem to bring himself to care. He just about held himself back from running into his room and launching himself at his phone. It was sat charging on his bedside table, lit up from a twitter notification he had just received. He pulled the phone from the charger and flung himself down on his bed. He took the piece of paper from his pocket, it was stained with the sweat from his hands, but it was still readable. He tapped in the number, getting frustrated when the outdated phone ran slow. When he had finally managed to create a new contact (which really hadn't taken all that long, but in Dan's mind it felt like it had been hours), he typed a new message:  
ME: Phil?

He stared at the screen, waiting in anticipation for a reply. His mind was spinning with thoughts like 'what if it's not him?' 'what if it's not even a real number and this is all one big joke?' 'what if it is him and we talk and fall in love and get married?' 'what if he's some sort of psycho killer?' These thoughts whirled around his mind, none really distinguishable from another. His eyes began to drift shut against his will. The thoughts slowed down and the world went dark, then suddenly;

BUZZ BUZZ "OW!" He yelled, as his phone slammed into his nose. He sat up quickly before he could really register what had happened. "What the hell?" He rubbed his nose and looked around for where his phone had landed, after it had assaulted his face of course. He spotted the phone on the floor, the screen now dim. Dan groaned and reached over for it, very nearly falling off his bed in the process. Who the hell was texting him at...he checked the time...1am? He unlocked his phone and tapped the message icon. Phil. Who the hell was...oh! His heart leapt as he remembered the name.

PHIL: That's my name. Piano guy, right?

Dan grinned widely, his heart fluttering violently, but he had no idea why. He had just met this man, and even saying 'just met' was stretching it. Phil had watched him play the piano, they had barely had a conversation, and he had given Dan a jacket with his number in it. But it had been his number. He hadn't just accidentally given Dan someone else's number, and he hadn't done it just to trick him, it was definitely his number. His hands shook ever so slightly as he typed his reply;

ME: Dan. My name's Dan. It's a bit early to be awake isn't it?  
PHIL: You're awake aren't you?  
ME: Well yeah, I am now  
PHIL: Oh, did I wake you?  
ME: Sort of, though it was more the fault of my phone launching itself at my face -.-  
PHIL: Ah, suicide bomber phone. Know that one.

Dan laughed as he read the message. He liked it when people could make him laugh; it somehow made him feel special, even though he knew that people made other people laugh every day, but it didn't seem to matter. His phone buzzed again and he peered at the message.

PHIL: Say, Dan, are you working tomorrow?  
ME: Nope, every other day starting Monday.  
PHIL: Well, would you object to me seeing you?

Dan paused. Seeing him. Like a date? But, they had barely met. He did like Phil though, he made him laugh, and he had paid attention to his playing, and he seemed like a good enough person, so why not? Phil didn't really strike him as the serial killer type. He took a deep breath and replied, simply:

ME: No. I'd like that.  
PHIL: Great! I'll pick you up. Just catch the bus to the restaurant at 4 and I'll pick you up from there. See you then :)  
ME: See you :)

Dan bit his lip, trying to suppress the huge grin that was threatening to rival the Joker's. He rolled over and put his phone back on charge. It was only when he had rolled onto his stomach that he realised he was still dressed for work, and if it weren't for the belt buckle that was now digging into his flesh he would have just stayed that way, but as it was, he couldn't, so he rolled back over and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and locating his pyjamas.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next day Dan's alarm blared in his ear, sounding like something from a bad alien invasion movie. "I really have got to change that." He muttered into his pillow, his arm flailing around beside him, trying to find the phone and turn it off. He eventually found it, pressing snooze and burying himself back into his covers. He couldn't remember why he had an alarm set in the first place, but it couldn't be that important. Besides, it was so warm, snuggled up in his bed, and out of his bed was so definitely not warm. It was bloody freezing, and he had no desire to freeze his butt off because of an alarm he didn't know why he had set. He shrugged it off and closed his eyes, willing himself to drift back off to sleep, which came over him easily.

He felt like he had been asleep seconds before his alarm went off again. "Aw come on, what do you want?" He asked the alarm angrily, pushing himself upright and grabbing his phone. 'DATE!!' is what the alarm label told him. Date? What? He turned off the alarm and had every intention of going back to sleep, when he remembered. Date...Phil...date with Phil... "Shit!" he gasped checking the time: 3:50pm. "Shit shit shit!" He scrambled out of bed and over to his wardrobe, pulling out his jeans and pausing to look at his shirts. "Dan they're all black it doesn't make a damn difference just move it!" He yelled at himself, grabbing the shirt closest to him and cursing his laziness. How had he slept until 3pm anyway? That was ridiculous! He caught sight of himself in the mirror as he rushed through the house trying to find his shoes. His skin was paler than usual due to having just woken up, and the bags under his brown eyes were bordering on black. His hair was just a brown mess on top of his head. "Dammit!" He muttered, racing to the bathroom and grabbing his hairbrush. There was no time to straighten it. He dragged the hairbrush through his hair as he pulled on his shoes, hopping towards the door on one foot while he pulled on the other shoe. Flinging open the door he sprinted down the hall, making a split second decision to take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. He was only on the 4th floor, it would take longer to wait for the broken hunk of metal to make it's way to his floor. He leapt down the stairs and slammed into the door at the bottom. "Fuck sake!" he cursed, throwing the door open and running towards the bus stop. He fished out his bus card as he ran, shouting for the driver to wait. The driver motioned for him to hurry up and he legged it, stopping just in time to not run into the bus as well. "Sorry." He panted to the driver who just raised an eyebrow at him and took his card, swiped it and gave it back. Dan thanked him and walked down the isle to the only empty seat. Of course it was next to the sick looking sneezy guy, but he was too panicky to care. "Calm down Dan. Text him. Say you're on your way." He whispered to himself, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

ME: On my way now

He took a calming breath and relaxed into his seat, trying to ignore the wheezing coughs of the guy next to him. This was his first 'date' since he was 15, and he wasn't even sure if he should be considering it as a date. Maybe he should have asked Phil if this was a date, but he didn't want to ruin any possible friendships by making Phil think he was desperate, and he didn't want to make anything awkward, and most of all, he didn't want to get let down. If Phil said anything about it being a date, then Dan would be extra happy, if not, then he would be happy just knowing someone wanted to hang out with him. He had better not screw this up. Phil could end up being the only friend he had outside of the wait staff at the restaurant, which would be nice. He didn't really do anything outside work, and so he never had an opportunity to meet new people. He was happy with the way he ran his life, but he knew it wasn't exactly an ideal way of living. He knew he needed to find something outside work and the internet, which is where he spent all of his free time. He phone went off in his hand, pulling him from his thoughts.

PHIL: See you soon then :)

Dan closed his eyes and smiled. He was excited. It was the first time he had been truly excited since the official release date of the new season of American Horror Story. In fact, he was more excited than he had been then, and possibly more nervous than he had ever been. How could he feel he had so much to lose when he had gained nothing in the first place? His mind confused even him sometimes.

The bus pulled to a stop and Dan pushed his way out, hopping onto the tarmac and saw Phil sitting at the bus stop already waiting for him. It was the first time he had seen Phil properly, as he had been sitting too far away in the restaurant, and the dim light near the bus stop hadn't done him any justice. He had raven black hair that was in the same style as Dan's - swept to one side across his forehead - but went the opposite way. His eyes were a beautiful, piercing blue that sparkled when the light hit them. His skin was pale, like Voldemort - Dan giggled at the thought. Everything about Phil contrasted so perfectly with one another that Dan couldn't help but feel like a troll in comparison, really wishing he had spent the time to get ready properly this morning.

Phil stood and smiled at him. Dan began to walk towards him when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Sneezy McPlague was standing there, holding out his hairbrush. "Sir, you forgo' your 'airbrush." Dan blushed deeply, taking the hairbrush and nodding his thanks. He turned back to Phil, who was laughing lightly. Dan blushed even harder. "In a rush were you?" Phil asked, coming over to meet him. Dan nodded, looking down at the floor. "Don't worry about it, it was quite cute really."  
"Cute?"  
"Yeah, you getting all flustered." Phil winked at him, making Dan turn the colour of a nice fresh tomato.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"So, what do you say to a movie?" Phil asked as they drove, the radio playing quietly in the background. "I say yes." Dan replied, smiling over at him.  
"And what would you say to the Avengers?"  
"I would say oh my god yes!" He added a squeal in there for extra affect. Phil chuckled and nodded.  
"Avengers it is then!" Phil honked the horn like they do in the movies when people are excited for something, but the guy in the car in front of them turned around, swearing at them and telling them it  was a red light. "Sorry!" Phil shouted back at him.  
"Don't you yell at me asshole! I should call the police on you! Don't fucking honk your horn for no god damn reason!"  
"I'm sorry I didn't realise I would upset you!"  
''Upset me? I'm fucking pissed you punk!"  
"Yeah, pissed it right. Piss drunk." Dan mumbled, and Phil laughed, causing the guy to get even more angry. Fortunately for them the light turned green, so the guy couldn't get out of his car and pound them. Neither of them had any sort of measurable body strength, and probably couldn't win a fight to save their lives, but it was a pretty funny situation - to Dan anyway.  
"Would you quit laughing? It happened like, 10 minutes ago now!" Phil said exasperatedly as Dan continued his fit of giggles in the seat next to him. "But...h-h-" he struggled to get the words out between laughs, "his face!" He finally burst out, collapsing into yet another fit of laughter. Phil smiled over at him. Dan's laugh, it would seem, was just as cute as the rest of him. It kind of consisted of a small giggle, which would get louder until it was almost shouting laughter, if that's a thing, and it would occasionally get punctuation with phrases such as 'Jesus Christ' and 'oh my God', and other such things that Christians would not appreciate him saying. Phil liked it.  
"Dan, come on now, if you don't stop laughing you won't be able to properly appreciate the wonder of the Avengers." Phil tried to reason with him, but he was still smiling, quite enjoying Dan's episode. Dan nodded and took a few breaths, wiping the tears from his cheeks, and saying as seriously as he could manage "you're right of course Philip. The Avengers is some serious business." Dan nodded all business like at Phil, then cracked a smile, which Phil returned, before coughing professionally and replying "quite right master Daniel, very serious business indeed."  
"Serious business."  
"Very serious business." He struggled to keep a straight face and Dan noticed.  
"Gosh Philip, you really are not taking this serious business very seriously at all!" He said in his best 'posh old lady' voice, and Phil broke, collapsing into giggles, having to pull over the car so that he didn't cause an accident. "I hate you." He laughed, looking over at Dan, who was looking at him with a strange expression, one of wonderment, and admiration and something else that Phil couldn't quite place, but it made him feel incredible. Like Dan was truly looking at him and truly seeing him. If he didn't follow the 'no kissing on first date' rule, he totally would have leaned over and kissed that boy no questions asked. The silence between them at that moment was something neither of them could describe. It wasn't awkward like there was a lack in conversation, and it wasn't comfortable like they were best friends. It was just there, and neither of them noticed it. They stared at each other of a while before Phil sat up straight, took a deep breath and said "seriously, if you make me laugh like that again, we'll never make the movie in time." He smiled over at Dan before starting the car and once again began to make their way to the movie theatre.

Dan's mind was racing. Had that really just happened? It had looked like Phil was going to kiss him, and he may be mistaken on that but to him it had certainly looked that way. So that meant that this was a date, right? This had to be a date. Who takes someone they just met to see a movie when they don't intend on it being a date? There probably are people like that out there, and maybe Phil's one of them, but it felt like a date, not that he had much experience in that department and oh my god he needed to calm down! He ran his fingers through his hair nervously, trying to calm himself down. If he didn't calm down he would end up saying or doing something really stupid and ruin the whole thing, which would be the opposite of ideal. "How long have you been playing the piano?" Phil asked, breaking the silence and Dan's thoughts. "Um, since I was 6. My parents really pushed it, but I grew to love it pretty quickly. Do you play? You seem to like it a lot."  
"Oh I do! I love music, but I never learnt how to play an instrument. I sing sometimes though."  
"Sing something for me?" Dan asked, wondering what Phil's singing voice would be like. His own was pretty terrible if he was honest, but he enjoyed singing nonetheless. Phil blushed and shook his head. "Please?"  
"Not this time." He said, flashing a shy smile at him - something Dan hadn't seen before and wished to see many times in the future if fate would give him the chance.

They arrived at the cinema with 5 minutes to spare. Phil grabbed Dan's hand and sprinted to the ticket register. "Two tickets to the Avengers." he said, panting slightly. Dan looked down at their linked hands and bit his lip. He didn't even know if Phil realised, but he sure did, and his heart was in his throat. The lady at the counter printed off their tickets and Phil let go of Dan's hand to grab them. He paid and began towards their designated cinema. "Um, I can pay my share now if you like." Dan said, reaching his hand into his pocket for his wallet. Phil shook his head. "Don't be stupid. Come on or we'll miss the beginning!"

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Will you let me buy you dinner?" Phil asked as they exited the movie. Dan shook his head.  
"Nu-uh, you paid for the movie, I at least want to buy my own meal."  
"Fiiine." Phil smiled at him. "So, what did you think of the movie?"  
"Awesome! I love Marvel movies." Dan said honestly, looking over at Phil, who was holding his hand out for a high five - which Dan obliged. Their hands collided. Hard. "Ow!" Phil laughed, pulling his hand away. "That was....enthusiastic, oh my God." Dan uttered, cradling his hand which was now turning a nice red colour. "We should work on that."  
"Definitely," Phil agreed, "but not right now. I think my hand needs a break from high-fives for a while."  
"Mine does too." Dan looked over at Phil who was smiling broadly and Dan smiled back. It may have been painful, but it had been pretty funny. Phil held out his none stinging hand and Dan took it without even thinking about it. Somehow it all just felt so natural, like they had known each other for years. "Let's go." Phil said warmly, tugging Dan's arm gently. Dan had no idea where they were going, as it was too early for dinner, but he hadn't been informed of there being another aspect to this...date? Yes. It was definitely a date, there was no denying it now. He walked next to Phil, their fingers interlocked and their arms just shy of being pressed together.

They were walking down a path surrounded by trees. To their left was a small river, which was murky, but still nice to look at, and on their right was a huge grassy area, small children running around chasing bubbles and footballs. Dan smiled. He had never been here before but he liked it. The environment was peaceful, and relaxing - not something Dan really encountered every day. His usual environment was comfortable, as it was at home, but it could rarely be considered relaxing, as there was always something that needed doing, and when he wasn't doing something around the house he was challenging his feels to a duel with death as he watched shows and movies and scrolled through tumblr. Right now, however, all he needed to do was keep hold of Phil's hand and keep walking next to him. His palm tingled and his stomach was filled with happy butterflies.

Phil lead Dan down a smaller path, which lead to a bench surrounded by flowers. He looked at Dan, trying to gauge his reaction. Had he made the right choice? What if Dan had allergies? Had he just screwed up royally? But these thoughts vanished when Dan looked over at him, his eyes sparkling. Dan paused for just a second before he hugged Phil. His arms around his neck and Phil's around his waist. He buried his head in Phil's shoulder. He recognised Phil's scent from the coat he had lent him, and it was ten times as good on Phil. "Thank you." He murmured into Phil's shoulder, and Phil nodded.

There it was again. That desire to kiss him. That spark in his gut that told him to just do it, but he couldn't. There was a reason he didn't kiss on first dates, and that reason was to prevent heart break. When Phil kissed someone he formed an emotional attachment immediately, and not everyone was like that. Some people just go around kissing others for the fun of it, but not feeling anything towards the person they are kissing. It had happened to him a few times. He would kiss the guy, then they would never call him back, causing Phil a few days of heartache at least. He especially couldn't break this rule with Dan when he already felt so emotionally attached to him. If Dan never called him back it would already cause him trouble, no need to make that worse. 

Dan couldn't bring himself to let Phil go. He wanted to stay wrapped in his arms forever, where nothing could harm them, or say hurtful things. He knew he should let go, that they should at least walk those three steps to the bench, but he couldn't, he just couldn't. Phil would have to break this hug or they would be stuck here forever. Not that Dan would mind, he would just get a little hungry, and thirsty, and he would probably need to go to the bathroom sooner or later, which, in hindsight, would probably be worse than letting go of Phil. He closed his eyes for a second then pulled away. Phil looked down at him, and Dan recognised the expression from earlier in the car, when Dan had thought Phil would kiss him. Maybe Phil just made this expression when he liked someone, and maybe Dan was taking it the wrong way, so he just looked back, that same silence from before surrounding them, until Phil broke eye contact and waked over to the bench and sat down, patting the space beside him, which Dan took.

They sat in silence for a while, not saying anything, just sitting next to one another comfortably. Phil placed his hand on Dan's knee, and Dan rested his head on Phil's shoulder. The light was fading, leaving the sky a bright orange colour. It was beautiful. Almost magical. Phil patted Dan's knee and whispered, "come on, lets go get dinner." Dan nodded, getting up and pulling Phil up with him.  
"Where should we go?" He asked, looking over at Phil.  
"I think I know just the place."

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They arrived at a small restaurant called Green Pea. Dan grinned when he saw it. The place looked rustic, but welcoming, and from what he could see through the window, the people in there looked friendly and chatty. Everyone seemed to be chatting with everyone else. He looked over at Phil, who nodded his head in the direction of the door. Dan took a deep breath and pushed it open. Immediately he was hit with a gust of warm air and the smell of food. It smelled just like the kitchen where he worked. "Newcomer!" Someone yelled.  
"Make that two!" Another shouted as Phil entered. Everyone was looking in their direction, smiling at them curiously. "Make yourselves at 'ome." The bartender said with a strong Scottish accent, gesturing around the tables. Phil took Dan's arm and lead him over to the nearest empty table. "So what brings you two 'ere?" An old lady leaned over the back of her chair to look at them.  
"We're on a date." Phil replied calmly, picking up the menu and scanning over the items, whilst Dan blushed deeply.  
"Oh aye, we can see that lad. First date too I'll bet my 'at."  
"Yup." Phil winked over at the bartender.  
"Get them some candles!" Someone shouted from across the room. Phil looked over at Dan, laughing lightly. Dan's face was bright red for what felt like the millionth time that day. Phil leaned over the table and whispered in Dan's ear, "that bartender sounds a lot like Hagrid." To which Dan burst out laughing. A waiter came over with a small electric candle and a note pad. "So, what will it be?" He asked. "Fish and chips for me, with some raspberry beer."  
"Manly man over here." Dan joked.  
"Raspberries are very manly, thank you very much."  
"Alright, alright! Um," he turned towards the waiter, "what would you suggest?" The waiter thought for a second. "Well, I particularly like the soup."  
"I'll have that one then, and just water. Thank you." He smiled as the waiter left.  
"I don't like soup." Phil said thoughtfully.  
"You don't like soup?"  
"I just don't understand it! Is it a food? Is it a drink? What's going on there?" he tried to explain himself, but Dan just laughed. "I don't understand you. Anything else weird that you don't like?"  
"Cheese."  
"Cheese?!" Dan exclaimed, his mouth dropping open comically. "What about pizza? That has cheese on it, and you have got to like pizza." Phil nodded.  
"Of course I like pizza. I only don't like cheese if it's in a block. I think it's because when I was young I bit through my tongue and I must have bitten through the cheese liking taste buds."  
"I don't think that's how it works Phil." Dan giggled. He found these theories of Phil's very endearing. Phil was just all around cute. Everything to the way he spoke, to his theories about the world, to the way he used his hands dramatically when he spoke. Dan liked all of it.

Their food arrived surprisingly quickly, and it smelled incredible. Dan's soup was a strange green colour, but it tasted amazing. It was like in Ratatouille when Remy tried a food and could see the different lights and patterns in his head from the flavours. "This is amazing!" Phil said through a mouth full of fish. Dan reached over and grabbed one of Phil's chips before Phil could stop him. He dipped it in his soup and made a show of eating it while Phil pouted. "That was my chip!" He sulked, a small smile showing through the pout, which he tried his hardest to suppress. "You can have it back if you really want." Dan teased, drinking another spoonful of soup.  
"No, no that's quite alright. I think you can keep just that one."  
"Why thank you. How generous." They both laughed.

This date was definitely one of the best ones Phil had ever had, and he had never bonded so well with anyone as well as he did with Dan. They just seemed to click. They had the same taste in movies and TV shows, books, anime, manga. Dan was sarcastic, and funny, and witty, and in Phil's eyes, perfect. He knew very little of what there was to know about Dan, but everything he knew so far, he loved. In fact, he might go as far as saying they were soul mates. He felt silly for believing in such things, but with Dan it just couldn't be helped. He felt as though they had known each other for years and it was almost like he couldn't even remember what life was like before Dan was in it, and he had literally met Dan mere hours ago, not counting their small encounter at the bus stop the previous night, as it couldn't really count for anything anyway. He was so glad he had given Dan his number. So very, very, very glad.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"You'd better come back 'ere, a'right lads?" The bartender called after them as they left the restaurant. "You can count on it!" Phil shouted over his shoulder, wrapping his arm around Dan's shoulder as he felt him shiver. The air outside was significantly cooler than it had been when they had entered. Night had fallen and the street glowed yellow from the light in the shop windows. "Time to take you home?" Phil asked, though he didn't really want to take him home. Dan nodded, but he didn't really want to be taken home. They walked to Phil's car in comfortable silence, Phil's arm wrapped around Dan, keeping him close, and Dan's head leaning on Phil as they walked.

Dan clambered in to the passenger seat and Phil shut his door before walked around to the driver's side. He turned the radio up slightly as they drove, both of them worn out, but happy. Dan rested his hand on Phil's lap, turning his head to watch him. In the darkness the contrast of his hair and his skin was even more perfect. Black hair on pale skin, and blue eyes that shone like ice when a car passed them. He sighed happily. This had been possibly the best day of his entire life, and he had certainly never been this happy.

"Take the next left." Dan said as they arrived near the bus stop.  
"I see you're trusting me with your address. What if I'm a stalker?" Phil asked in what he obviously thought was a creepy voice, but instead just made Dan giggle. "Then stalk me." He replied, winking at Phil, even though it couldn't be seen through the darkness. Phil stifled a snort, making an effort to keep his eyes on the road and not look over at Dan. It would be a little stupid to end this perfect date with a car crash.

"That one." Dan said, pointing at his shabby apartment complex. Phil pulled over and turned off the engine. The light above them came on and Phil turned to look at Dan. For the third time that day he felt the want to lean over and kiss him, but the rule. If he broke the rule it would only end in heartache, he knew that. But as he looked at Dan, and Dan looked back with a small smile and a twinkle in his eyes Phil knew that this boy wouldn't do that. This boy was his soul mate. This boy was perfect. Fuck the rule. Phil leaned over quickly, capturing Dan's lips with his own. Dan made a small surprised noise but made no attempt to pull away.

Sparks filled Dan. Not just in his tummy like the books said, but everywhere. Everywhere felt warm and tingly and right. His hand rose to Phil's neck as if this was an every day occurrence. Phil pulled away and Dan had to stop himself from squealing. "Thank you for the date Phil. I'll text you later?"  
"Definitely. See you soon, Dan." Phil said, smiling more widely than he ever thought possible. Dan tried his best to exit the car gracefully, but he was too giddy for that. He jumped out of the car and waved at Phil as he drove off, all but skipping up the stairs to his apartment. As soon as he had shut the door behind him he leaned against it and squealed, flapping his arms around like a crazy man, but he didn't care. He didn't care what anyone would think of him at this moment because Phil had kissed him. He had kissed him! Dan's heart was racing in his chest and his stomach was on some sort of rollercoaster. He laughed at nothing and ran into his room, throwing himself down onto his bed and squeezing the life out of his pillow. He felt as if nothing could ever upset him now. Nothing could take away the happiness he felt from that kiss. That short, sweet, incredible kiss that made him so happy. He grabbed his phone from his pocket, not really expecting to see anything, as Phil would still be driving home. Instead, he simply stared at Phil's name, biting his lip, and running the kiss over and over again in his head like a first person movie. Each time he saw Phil leaning in to kiss him his heart skipped a beat, and each time their lips touched Dan's breath caught in his throat. 

Phil drove home a little faster than usual; eager to get home and talk to Dan again. He had only just left, and it had only been a day, but it already felt so empty without Dan next to him. He could still feel Dan's lips on his. They were slightly chapped and a little rough, but Phil didn't mind. His free hand lifted to press against his lips absentmindedly. They tingled ever so slightly, and Phil laughed. He was such a book cliché, it was perfect.  He reached a red light and looked over at the passenger seat, where something caught his eye. "Oh Daniel. Should have known you were the forgetful sort." He laughed, smiling fondly.

Dan sat watching YouTube, trying to calm down his mind. It was not normal for a 22 year old male to freak out over a kiss, even if it was his first. First kiss at 22, rather pathetic when he thought about it, but it had been so perfect he hardly cared. His phone buzzed from his bedside table and he launched himself at it.

PHIL: You forgot your hairbrush ;)


	2. Leave

"Come on Phil, pleeeease?" Dan whined, giving Phil the best puppy dog eyes he could muster, but to no avail. "Dan, no. I said I will sing for you when I'm up to it!"  
"But why aren't you up for it now?"  
"Enough!" He shouted, causing Dan to back up slightly. He had never heard Phil shout before, not once in the two months they had been dating. "I told you: when I'm up to it!"  
"Okay, sorry." Dan looked down at his feet. He hadn't meant to push Phil like that. It was just that he always went on about how he loved to sing, and yet he would never sing for Dan, or even in front of him. Phil took a deep breath and reached out to brush Dan's fringe out of his face. "Look, I'm sorry, I just don't feel comfortable singing in front of new people." Dan glanced up at him, then turned away. New people? He was hardly new. They spent almost every minute together, and still he was considered new. He bit his lip, determined not to say anything and make things worse, he didn't want their first fight to be over whether or not Phil would sing. Phil sat down on the sofa and looked up at Dan. "You gonna sit down with me, or do I have to tickle you?" He raised an eyebrow, but Dan stood his ground, even if a small smile was cracking through. "You have 3 seconds." He didn't move. "3," Dan stood still, looking determinately at the floor, "2," He looked at Phil out of the corner of his eyes and saw Phil getting his tickle hands ready, "1!" Phil grabbed Dan's waist and tickled him, making Dan scream. "NONONO!" He shouted, trying to wiggle his way out of Phil's grip, but he was not having it. He fell backwards onto the sofa and Phil clambered on top of him, tickling everywhere he could reach. "STOP! STOP!" He managed to shout through his laugher.  
"Not until you promise to stop sulking." Phil teased, reaching up to grab Dan's foot, which was flailing in the air above his head. "Not the feet...NOT THE FEET!" He squealed, kicking madly.  
"Promise to stop sulking?"  
"NEVEEER!"  
"Well then I guess I shall just have to keep tickling you until-"  
"OKAY....OKAY......I PROMISE!" Dan only just managed to gasp out. Phil smiled somewhat smugly and let go of Dan's foot, sitting back, placing his weight on Dan's stomach. Dan closed his eyes, still letting out the odd giggle and trying to catch his breath. "I hate you sometimes, you know that?" He whispered, opening one eye to look at Phil. "I know." Phil replied, leaning forward to kiss Dan. Dan tangled his fingers lazily in Phil's hair. Each one of their kisses still felt magical to him, just like they had that first time in the car. Every atom in his body tingled with warmth, his stomach feeling like it had  gotten on the world's craziest rollercoaster, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

Phil sat up and pulled out his phone. "You gotta get to work." he announced, climbing off of Dan and offering him a hand up, which Dan grudgingly took. It wasn't like he hated work. In fact, compared to quite a few people, he bloody loved his job, but ever since he had met Phil it felt like he would just much rather stay at home cuddling than play a piano for a bunch of people who never paid attention. He took his jacket from the back of his sofa and placed it over his arm, not quite bothered enough to put it on yet. "I'll drive you." Phil said, picking up his keys and jingling them slightly in his hand.  
"No, that's alright, I can catch the bus."  
"Dan, I have to go home anyway you numpty."  
"Oh. Right. Okay then." He couldn't quite keep the disappointment out of his voice as he said it. He hated it when Phil had to leave. Phil would spend so many nights in Dan's apartment, that Dan would sometimes forget he occasionally had to go home or else his landlord would sell his flat. Phil kissed the top of his head. "I'll be back in a couple of days maximum. I promise." Dan nodded, knowing that Phil was being completely truthful, and Dan was just overreacting. He held open the door for Phil, and locked it behind him.

Dan kissed Phil goodbye when they arrived at the restaurant and Phil watched as he entered. He still felt somewhat bad about what had happened earlier. He didn't know why he felt so defensive about his singing. He knew Dan wouldn't judge him, but he had caused an argument over it instead of just singing a simple chorus of Bah Bah Black Sheep or something. Actually, it had been less of an argument, and more him yelling at Dan for no good reason. He banged his head against the steering wheel. God he was an idiot. A horn sounded from behind him, reminding him that he was parked right in the middle of the road. He sat up quickly, shouting an apology, even though the person in the car behind him probably couldn't hear it through 2 sets of closed windows and 5 metres of space.

He drove around for a while, trying to work out what to do. He didn't feel right just going home, but he didn't want to disturb Dan at work with a petty apology when he could just as easily apologise later when Dan was finished. He just didn't know what to do.

Dan checked the time. Only an hour left, then he could go home to Phi- an empty apartment. His heart sank. Phil would be at home. Man, if that wasn't a way to slow down time, he didn't know what was. He shook his head, finished the song and flipping the page, still just for a more professional touch. He began playing, starting to notice a presence behind him. Assuming it was just one of the wait staff, or his boss, he kept playing, keeping his eyes on his fingers as they worked. He expected whoever it was to meander off sooner or later, but what he didn't expect was a deep voice to begin singing along to 'Clocks' by Coldplay (a number he had managed to persuade his manager to let him play). His fingers fumbled for a second, almost losing their place, but not quite. He closed his eyes, finding his focus and playing along with the singer, whose voice he found absolutely divine. It was the perfect mixture of deep and sophisticated. It sounded slightly operatic, but the singer was obviously untrained. People were looking over at him and his unknown accomplice. This was brilliant! Dan smiled broadly, playing the final chord and turning around to thank his mystery singer. He choked. "Phil?!" He gasped, standing up and staring at his boyfriend. Phil blushed and looked at his hands, nodding. "Oh my god, you're amazing!" Dan exclaimed, pulling Phil into a hug. "That was incredible! Thank you so much!"  
"Yeah, yeah." Phil said, pretending to try and push Dan away, blushing deeply, "you still have 15 minutes left. I'll be waiting outside."  
"Okay!" Dan kissed his cheek quickly before sitting back down and turning the page for his final song.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan unlocked his door as quickly as he could, his fingers fumbling with the key as Phil kissed his shoulders. He flung open the door and no sooner was it open Phil pushed him inside and against the wall, slamming the door shut with his foot. Dan's lips were sore with how hard Phil was kissing him, but he didn't care. All he cared about was Phil pressed flush against him. His fingers tangled in the black hair, tugging at it when Phil grazed his teeth across his bottom lip. He let out a soft moan, the world around him spinning. Phil's hands roamed down his sides, pulling at the fabric of his shirt to untuck it from his trousers. It didn't take long for Dan to catch on to what he was doing, attacking the buttons on Phil's shirt as though they were raging war against him. The buttons were winning against Dan's trembling fingers. Phil paused, pulling away from the kiss slightly. Dan was about to complain when Phil ripped his shirt off, the buttons flying everywhere, but it didn't matter, in fact, Dan found it a huge turn on. Dan's hands roamed Phil's pale chest. His skin was flushed pink and warm. "God you're gorgeous." Dan whispered before Phil was on him again, kissing him like it was the apocalypse. For once in his life Dan was glad that work made him wear a suit; skinny jeans and an erection were incredibly uncomfortable, however suit pants were somewhat more manageable. Even so, he was god damn horny, and he'd be damned if he didn't get some sort of relief down there. He rolled his hips up against Phil, whining wantonly into the kiss. Phil pressed Dan further into the wall and wrapped his legs around his waist. He only just held himself back from running to the bedroom, for fear of accidentally falling and hurting Dan, which was entirely possible.

He lay Dan down gently, crawling on top of him, kissing every inch of skin he saw on the way. He reached his neck and Dan groaned loudly. "Found your weak spot have I?" He whispered in Dan's ear, teeth scraping gently across the lobe before his lips returned to his neck, sucking and licking until Dan was begging Phil to fuck him, blow him, anything to be rid of the pressure in his cock. Phil's response was to grind his hips slowly, teasing Dan slowly. "Phil, please, please just fuck me already!" he begged, his nails scraping along Phil's back and down his arms, leaving red trails on the pale skin. Phil's hips shuddered and he groaned as he ground down a final time. Unbuttoning Dan's trousers and pulling them down easily along with his underwear, he discarded them somewhere across the room. He set to work on his own jeans, tugging them less than gracefully down his legs. Dan lay watching him, his face flushed red, and small red patches appearing where Phil had abused his neck. His shirt was stuck to him due to sweat, making the white appear fleshy. Phil lay back down on top of him, kissing him more gently than he had before. Their naked erections pressed against each other, causing a sensation Dan had never felt before. He moaned quietly against Phil's lips and Phil smiled. He pulled back and began sucking on his fingers, looking at Dan through his eyelashes and occasionally twirling his tongue around them. Being a virgin in every respect, Dan had no idea what he was doing, but he found it incredibly attractive, wishing Phil would use that tongue on his dick instead of wasting it on his fingers. He wasn't afraid to voice this opinion either, whining and thrusting his hips up. Phil chuckled and leaned forward so that his breath hit Dan's ear, causing him to shudder. "This may hurt a little." He whispered, sucking on his ear while he pushed one finger into Dan's hole. Dan visibly seized up at the unfamiliar sensation. "Relax Dan. You need to relax." Phil whispered soothingly. Dan nodded, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes, letting his muscles relax. Phil's finger thrust in and out slowly, the sensation quickly turning from discomfort, to pleasure. He moaned, arching his back off the bed. Every noise Dan made was going straight to Phil's dick, making it very difficult for him to not just fuck him right now without preparing him at all. "Alright, I'm going to add another one." He whispered and Dan nodded, biting his lip. Phil pushed in a second finger and waited, letting Dan adjust. Dan shook his head and began to thrust his hips forward, trying to get Phil's fingers to move. "Someone's desperate." Phil teased and Dan whimpered. His whole body felt like it was on fire, but in a good way. Phil's fingers began doing what felt like a scissoring motion inside him, stretching him. "Ready for a third?" Phil asked, and Dan shook his head.  
"Don't want a third, I want you." He just about gasped out, his voice slightly strained.  
"But I don't want to hurt you."  
"I'll be fine, Phil, just...please." He turned his head to look at Phil, his pupils blown and his eyes filled with lust and want. Phil paused for a second before nodding. He took his fingers out and sat up, looking around for some sort of lube. "Vaseline on the table." Dan pointed to the bedside table, and Phil leaned over to grab it, taking a large scoop and spreading it on his hands. He rubbed his hands along his dick, moaning at the sensation. He ran his fingers around Dan's rim, then positioned himself. "You sure you're ready?"  
"Just do it." Dan took a deep breath, preparing for something he didn't know.

As Phil's cock penetrated him a searing pain spread through his lower half and he gasped, scrunching up his face. Phil moved slowly, holding himself back as best he could from just thrusting in. He leaned down to kiss Dan gently, to try and distract him from what was going on. Once he was in as far as he could go, he waited for Dan's body to adjust, but waiting was becoming increasingly difficult. His dick was surrounded by warmth and the tightness of Dan's ass was almost too much. "Move." He heard Dan whisper, and he gladly obliged. It still hurt, but Dan quickly got used to the sensation, any pain turning into complete pleasure. Phil moved so that only his tip was left inside Dan, then pounded back in; over and over he did this, angling his hips slightly differently each time until he hit-  
"HOLY SHIT!" Dan cried, pure bliss shooting up through him at whatever Phil had just done. "Do that again." Phil smiled slightly to himself and thrust in again, hitting Dan's prostate with almost every move. Dan was a blubbering mess by that point, unable to say anything other than 'fuck' or 'oh my god'. Moans erupted from his mouth like there was no tomorrow. "Phil, I'm close." He moaned, closing his eyes and arching his back as his orgasm hit him. He tensed up, letting the sensation wash over him. Phil thrust a couple more times before he came, keeling forward so his forehead rested on Dan's stomach. Dan could feel himself being filled and he groaned slightly, his eyes still closed, seeing nothing but white. He felt Phil slide out and collapse next to him. They lay there for a while, with nothing but the sounds of their breath surrounding them.

"You realise," Phil said after a while, turning to look at Dan, "That I barely even touched you." He smiled slightly as he saw Dan blush. "Yeah, well....weren't you going home?"  
"I figured it could wait." He said, reaching out an arm to pull Dan closer. Dan turned so he was facing into Phil, snuggling his face into his warm chest and closing his eyes.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan was awoken by a scream. His immediate thought was Phil, but as he moved he could feel Phil next to him, still fast asleep. He was about to chalk it up to his imagination when something hit him hard across the head. "Ow!" He shouted, turning around to find out what the hell was going on, but he almost wished he hadn't. Blood drained from his face and he began to feel faint. His mother was standing in the doorway, her face scarlet with rage, holding her shoe in one hand, arm raised, ready to throw it. "HOW DARE YOU!" She screeched, throwing the other shoe so that it this time hit Phil, who jerked awake, looking very confused. Dan daren't turn around to see if he was okay. He wished Phil had gone home last night. He hadn't meant to sleep in, and if he had known his mother was coming he would have had Phil out of the house hours ago. "Mum, I-" Dan tried to think of an explanation, but his mother had just walked in to find him half naked with another naked man, curled up asleep together. There really wasn't an explanation he could give to make his mother stop screaming. She stormed over to the bed and grabbed Dan by his shirt, dragging him out of the bed and onto the floor. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?"  
"Mum, please, just-"  
"NO! DON'T EVEN TALK TO ME DANIEL HOWELL!"  
"Please, just listen mum, I-" he was cut off with a sharp slap across his face. He cheek stung where she had hit him and he looked at the floor. He didn't know what to do. Unless the ground sucking him out of existence was an option, there wasn't really anything he could do. His mother was strong when she wanted to be, and even more stubborn. A strong, stubborn, homophobic parent who just walked into their son's room post gay sex was anyone's worst nightmare. He heard the bed creak as Phil moved over. He wanted to tell Phil to stop, to just stay away and not get involved, but he couldn't bring himself to talk. His voice had just stopped walking. Phil climbed off the bed and knelt next to Dan, but before he could so much as lay a hand on his shoulder, Dan's mother pushed him away. "Don't even think about touching my son." She spat, towering over him. Phil wanted to stand, protect Dan, tell this woman that she couldn't control him, but the look she was giving him rendered him useless. It was a look of pure hatred. Something he had only ever seen in movies. He hadn't thought until this moment that it was even possible for a human being to show such contempt and loathing in a single look. Dan was still staring at the floor, tears streaking down his cheeks. This was his fault. It was his fault that Phil was now caught up in this.

A hand grabbed his hair, yanking his head upwards. His eyes met his mothers, and he had never been so afraid in his life. "You have no right to cry." She said menacingly, "I raised you right, and yet you defy everything I taught you. Do you say otherwise?"  
"I...no." Dan answered shamefully, hearing his own words pierce through the air like a knife, tearing up everything he cared about. She nodded. "Good. Now, pack your stuff. We're leaving."  
"No but mum-"  
"NOW!" She pushed Dan's head away and stormed from the room.

It took a few seconds for Dan to gain the strength to stand. He walked over to his closet and began to dress himself. Phil sat silently on the floor, watching him. "I'm sorry Phil." He whispered, shoving clothes into a bag. Phil couldn't respond. He couldn't quite take in what was happening. Dan closed the draw and swung his bag over his back. "I'm sorry." He repeated, looking back at Phil before exiting the room. Phil just stared, unable to move, unable to think. Had he just lost Dan to a psycho mother? He heard the door slam shut and he collapsed to the floor, sobs racking his body and filling the now empty house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually going to make this chapter longer so that it would be up next week, but I shall leave you with this cliffhanger of sorts instead.  
> I don't think Mrs Howell would be like this, in fact I think she is probably a wonderful lady, but for storytelling's sake I had to make her this way. Sorry Mrs Howell.  
> And look! Smut! Probably bad smut, but it's there.  
> Again, sorry for bad editing.


	3. Found

It was only once he was in the car that Dan realised he had left his phone on the bedside table. No chance of getting it back now though. He sat in silence as his mother started the car, still fuming. If this had been a cartoon she would have smoke pouring from her ears. He held back the tears that threatened to fall down his face once again, knowing it would only make things worse. "So, Daniel, you've had your fun, but now it's time to pay for it. I told you when you were little; there's always a price to pay." She turned to look at him for a few seconds before casting her eyes back to the road and sighing. "Do you hate me, Dan? Is that it?" Dan didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. He hadn't just been with Phil for the 'fun' of it, and he certainly hadn't been doing it because he hated his mother. He had been with Phil because he liked him. It was the strongest bond he had ever felt with anyone, but there was no way he could explain that to his mum. She was too close-minded, too old fashioned to believe that two men can like each other in just the same way a man and woman can. No. She just thought it was an illness, something treatable if given the right disciplines and punishments. "Not talking to me now huh? Well I suppose I can't blame you, I ruined your little game-"  
"IT WAS NOT A GAME!" Dan screamed, finally snapping and causing the car to swerve slightly as his mother lost control momentarily. She pulled over the car and stared at him, her face full of shock. "How dare you! You betray me, and you scream at me, and now you're even lying to me!"  
"I am not lying!" He fumed, the tips of his ears turning bright red and his hands shaking. He had never once gotten angry like this, especially not at his mother, but it was like he had lost control of his brain.  He hated her right now. Hated her more than he had ever hated anything in his entire life. He wanted to hit her, he wanted so badly to just throw her out of the car window and then run all the way home back to Phil, but he couldn't, he wouldn't. She was still his mother. His thoughts were cut short when her hand collided with his cheek for the second time that morning. He shrank back into his seat; all his anger suddenly evaporating into hopelessness. "Are we going to have any more problems?" She snarled. Dan shook his head, looking down at his knees. "Good." The engine restarted and they were back on the road.

It was only a 10 minute drive to his parent's house, but he had never been less happy to see the place. Nothing about the place seemed welcoming like it had when he was a kid. The front door opened and his dad walked out, pushing his glasses up his nose and looking a little confused. "Dan?" He asked as Dan got out of the car, swinging the bag over his shoulder. He didn't want to deal with any sort of conversation with anyone, so instead he just pushed past his dad, never looking up from the floor until he reached his old room. They had kept it mostly the same, except it was much cleaner and most of his possessions were gone. He flung his bag down into a corner of the room, collapsing on the bed and burying his face in his pillow. This wasn't fair. This just wasn't fair.

 

Phil was still in the same position he had been in when Dan had been dragged away from him. His arms covered his face, which was puffy and red. His eyes stung with the amount he had cried, but he had no more tears. He just lay silently, not wanting to move or speak again. How could Dan come from a family like that? He was so caring, and his mother just wasn't! He sniffed and sat up, rubbing his eyes, the light of the room blinding him briefly. A clock ticked loudly in the kitchen, like it could sense how quiet and unnatural it had become and wanted to fix things. Phil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to think straight. What could he do? Asking Dan's mother to forgive him wasn't an option. He had done nothing wrong. If he knew any of Dan's old friends he could see if they knew what to do, but they had only been together a couple of months, and in that time they had rarely left Dan's apartment. Now it seemed like a really stupid idea. He hauled himself up onto Dan's bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling. It had been the best night of his life, and the worst morning had come right afterwards to restore the balance. Maybe Phil wasn't allowed to be so happy and the universe was just making things right, and telling him not to bother being that happy ever again.

His phone buzzed, and he turned the other way, not willing to talk to anyone. But...wait..."I don't have my phone on silent." He sat up and reached over to grab Dan's phone. He half felt like laughing, half felt like crying. "You're such an idiot!" He choked, clutching the phone in his hands. Now there was a way of contacting someone who knew what to do! He pressed the home button and swiped the screen, suddenly stumped by the lock code. He hadn't thought of that. Normally it wouldn't even pass his mind to hack into someone's phone, but his mind wasn't being itself. He tried Dan's birthday, his birthday, the day they met, their first date, 1234, but nothing. He fell backwards once again. Stumped by a four digit code. A four digit code that now stood in the way of him ever being able to see Dan again. An idea came to mind, and in any other situation he would have felt so full of himself, but in this one, nothing else came to mind. He lifted the phone once more and typed 7445. The phone unlocked and Phil grinned. Not only because he had cracked it, but the passcode was him. Phil. 7445. "You're so cute." He whispered, going into his messages to see if he could find anyone who could be useful. The first conversation was him, but the one underneath was someone called Pj. He opened the conversation and scrolled back a bit. He felt like such a possessive creep, but he also felt like he had no choice. This was almost a matter of life and death.

ME: Peej, he's incredible. I can't get over how perfect he is.  
PJ: Yeah, you've told me. I've still yet to meet him though. Do you plan on ever introducing me?  
ME: Of course! Just not right now. He's mine. *evil manic laughter*  
PJ: Yeah yeah... for now >:)  
ME: Nope, forever. I shall lock him in a cupboard if I have to  
PJ: Little bit creepy, wouldn't you say?  
ME: Yes, but that is not the point I am making  
PJ: And what is the point you are making?  
ME: That I don't ever want him to leave.  
PJ: Still a little creepy if read in the right voice  
ME: Quit reading it in the right voice then  
PJ: I'm reading it in your voice  
ME: Oh shut up.  
ME: I'm going to bed now. Night Pj  
PJ: Goodnight Dan.

Phil smiled as he read the messages, his anger and sadness slowly backing into the back of his mind. He was pretty sure he had found the right guy. He called Pj, crossing his fingers. Someone, presumably Pj, picked up, answering with a cheerful "Heya Dan."  
"Um, sorry, Pj, but this isn't Dan."  
"Then who is it?"  
"I'm Phil-"  
"Ah! The infamous Phil. Nice to hear your voice at least, even if Dan won't let me see your face. So what's up?"  
"Well, uh, his mother kind of walked in on us this morning, and she's dragged him somewhere, back to her house probably, but I need to know how to get him back." Phil bit his lips when Pj didn't answer for a few seconds. "You're at Dan's apartment, right?"  
"Yeah."  
"I'll be there in 5 to sort out a plan. Hold tight." The line went dead and Phil breathed a sigh of relief. He was going to get Dan back. 

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"I'm an adult now!" Dan screamed at his mother through a locked door. "You can't just lock me in my room!"  
"Oh yes I can. I just did. You shouldn't have tried to escape."  
"I'm 22 years old! You can't control me!"  
"Watch me Daniel Howell. Watch me."  
"UGH!" He kicked the door as hard as he could and stormed over to his bed. Now he was completely screwed. It had been 3 days and he had attempted to leave exactly 24 times. The last time resulting in being dragged to his room and stuck there. They had taken the handle from his side of the door and locked it from the outside. No getting out now. He felt like a child who was being punished for running away. He looked over at the open window and contemplated whether or not he could climb out of it. He was on the first floor right above the living room. They would surely see him if he tried to climb down. Plus, he was more likely to fall down than actually climb.

He missed Phil. He missed his apartment. He missed his tv, his laptop, his phone. Sure he had a tv in his room, but it had none of the good channels, so he usually ended up watching some shit program he had never even heard of before from the 80's while he read a book that he had read countless times before. Currently he had something called 'The Borgias' going on in the background, which seemed to like showing naked people, while he stared at the ceiling - too pissed off to pick up a book and read. He turned to look at the clock. 1:42am. He was surprised his mother had been awake. Her being asleep had been what he had been counting on when he was sneaking through the kitchen to the back door. Unfortunately for him she came to make herself a drink as he was opening the door. "I miss you Phil." He whispered into the fractured darkness of the room.  
"I missed you too." He heard a reply and nearly fell off the bed, holding back a scream. Phil was clutching the window frame and peering through the window, smiling cheekily at him. "Hey Dan." Dan was too shocked to reply, wondering how the hell he had not noticed anything. Phil clambered through the window, falling to the floor with a soft thud. "Phil...how the hell did you get up here?"  
"Pj." Phil said a little too cheerfully, standing up and brushing himself off. "We're going to get you out of here."   
"How?"  
"No idea."  
"Then what-"  
"Pj just told me to wait up here with you." Phil cut him off, holding out his hand to help Dan off the floor. Dan took it and immediately found himself engulfed by Phil. Dan closed his eyes and rested his head on Phil's shoulder. "I missed you, I missed you, I missed-" The door flew open and drowned out his last word. Pj stood there smiling, and Mrs Howell stood there fuming. "Come on guys, let's go." Dan was about to question it, but Phil shook his head, taking his hand and pulling him out of the room. His mother grabbed his shoulder. "Dan, please don't do this. Honey, you're sick, you're ill, I can help you. I can find somewhere where they can fix you." 

"I'm not broken." Dan replied, with a strange air of calm. He shrugged her off and marched down the stairs, out of the house and into Pj's waiting car. He could hear his mother in the doorway, crying out to him to stay, but he wouldn't. He leaned over and rested his head on Phil's shoulder. Nothing could ever tear them apart again. Nothing. He wouldn't let it happen.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Y'know Dan, you were right to not let me meet him. He's a real gentleman." Pj winked at Dan as he climbed out of the backseat. "Yes. And he's my gentleman. Hands off." Dan smiled. "Thanks again Peej."  
"No problem. Call me later."  
"Will do." Dan waved as Pj drove away. Phil wrapped an arm around Dan's shoulders and began to walk towards the entrance to the apartment, but Dan stopped. "What's wrong?" Phil asked, concerned. "If it's because you don't have the key, I have it, so-"  
"No, it's not that. It's just...what if she comes back? She knows where I live, and she knows that you'll be there, and she can get in whenever she wants." Dan sighed, staring up at the building. Phil thought for a minute. "Move in with me."  
"What?"  
"Move in with me. We practically live together anyway, what difference would it make?"  
"Phil, I can't just move."  
"Yes you can. We can hand in your notice tomorrow and be out by the weekend."  
"Yeah, but Phil..."  
"No buts. My house is no further away from the restaurant than yours, and it's got better internet, a better tv, longer lasting hot water, a bigger bed-" Dan punched him playfully. "Come one Dan, I'm really not seeing the issue here."  
"There isn't an issue."  
"Then it's settled."  
"I...sure. Yeah." Dan nodded, taking a deep breath. He had never been particularly good with moving houses, but if he had Phil, then he was certain it would be fine.

They climbed the stairs hand in hand, talking about the three days Pj and Phil had planned Dan's escape.  
"So, what did Peej do to convince my mother to let me out?"  
"Threatened to call the police for kidnapping and holding hostage."  
"And how the hell did it take you three days to come up with that?" Dan asked, his eyebrows raised. Phil flushed pink. "Um, well, actually it only took 10 minutes to come up with the plan."  
"So what took you so long?"  
"We, uh...we kept getting lost. Pj couldn't remember your address so we had to search for it."  
"And you didn't think to look in my contacts under 'home'" Dan asked, amused. Phil shook his head, still pink. "Not until the last minute when we had already tracked it down."  
"God you're an idiot." Dan laughed, kissing Phil's cheek. Phil chuckled. "Glad I amuse you."  
"You always amuse me." he replied, pushing open the door to his floor and running his front door. Phil held out the keys and Dan grabbed them, unlocking the door as quickly as his fingers would allow and spilling into the hallway. Phil watched from the doorway as Dan let himself fall to the floor, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling. He had never looked this beautiful. "I'm happy to know you're more excited about seeing the apartment than seeing me." He joked and Dan scrunched up his nose in a way that was far too cute to be legal. "Don't be stupid. Come here." He held out his hands and Phil took them, planning on lifting Dan to his feet, but instead he found himself next to him on the floor. He looked over at Dan and Dan was looking back, still smiling, eyes still glistening. Phil tilted his head forwards and kissed him, slowly entangling his fingers in Dan's hair. Dan hummed contentedly shuffling forward and pressing himself against Phil. "My hero." he whispered softly against Phil's lips, feeling them stretch into a smile against his. "Always." Phil replied, just as softly. Phil's arms encircled Dan's waist and held him close. In the three days Dan had been gone, Phil had been more lonely than he had ever thought possible. Even with Pj with him for most of the duration, he still felt like he was lost, and not just in the sense that they couldn't find where they were going. He had felt like he was alone and helpless, and those feelings had disappeared as soon as he had seen Dan through the window. Dan was his missing piece, his soul mate, his other half. He might as well die if he lost him again.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan's alarm blared through the apartment much earlier than usual. Dan groaned and dived under the covers, trying to block out the noise. Phil smiled from the doorway and walked over to the lump in the bed that was Dan. "Oh no you don't," he said, trying to tug the covers away from Dan, "we've put off packing far too much, and you're moving tomorrow. Get up."  
"I don't wanna." Dan mewled, clutching at the duvet as Phil yanked it away.  
"Tough. Come on, there's a living room full of boxes that need to be filled and a truck outside." Phil pulled Dan into a sitting position and waited with his arms folded. Dan yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Don't think being cute is going to get you out of this Daniel."  
"Aw, but that's my only attack."  
"And it's not very effective in this battle. Get up!" He threw Dan's uni jumper at him and exited the room, chuckling to himself. Dan sat there for a few more seconds with his red Manchester University hoodie over his head before pulling it on and getting up.

When Phil had said 'a living room full of boxes' he hadn't been kidding. There was barely any room to walk around the empty cardboard packing boxes. "Phil, how do you propose we pack when I can't get to the other end of the house?"  
"Start from this end, take the packed boxes out to the truck, come back and work our way forward."  
"Yes, but the front door is at the other end of the house."  
"Oh yeah. Hadn't thought of that." Phil replied sheepishly, looking around to find another way of going about it. Dan sighed. "Okay, put as many boxes as we can into my room and the bathroom, then move the remaining boxes to the sides of the living room. That should work." Dan looked over at Phil, who was still walking around the small space available, looking for a solution. "Phil?"  
"I got it! We move boxes into your room and the bathroom, then we should have enough space to get to the door."  
"I literally just said that."  
"You did?"  
"Yes!" Dan laughed and pulled Phil into a kiss. Phil relaxed into it for a couple of minutes before pulling away and pointing at the boxes. "Lets get to it then."  
"Indeed." Dan agreed grabbing a couple of boxes and throwing them into Dan's room. "Don't these come in stacks? And flat?"  
"Yes."  
"So why aren't they stacked or flat?"  
"I thought things would go quicker if I got them ready so we could just put the stuff in them."  
"You really must learn to think things through Phil."  
"Yes, yes, I know. Shut up and move the boxes."  
"The boxes that would have been easier to work with had they been flattened?"  
"I hate you."  
"I know." Dan giggled and kissed Phil's cheek before grabbing some more boxes.

It took about 20 minutes for enough boxes to be moved to form a path to the front door. Dan surveyed the situation with his hands on his hips. "Right, well, I suppose we start packing."  
"And how are we going about that Captain Dan?"  
"Um," Dan thought about it, "don't put the fragile stuff with the not fragile stuff?"  
"That it?"  
"That's all I can think of."  
"Okay, well I'll start with the books."  
"I'll do my clothes." Phil nodded seriously and walked over to the bookshelf. Dan smiled and headed back into his room. He could just about get to his cupboard through the haphazardly piled up boxes. He grabbed one and started piling it with clothes, not caring what went in with what. He grabbed only pair of jeans and was shoving them down the side of the box when music began playing. Muse. Phil was playing Muse. "Phil you're amazing!" He called over the sound of Matthew Bellamy's heavenly voice. "I know." Phil replied, putting the last of Dan's books into a third box. He stood and stared at his handy work. "Now to get you downstairs." he muttered, tilting his head, trying to work out the most effective way to go about this. In the end he just shrugged, picking up one of the boxes and cursing at it's weight. "Did not know books could be this heavy."

He lugged it down the stairs, pausing occasionally to catch his breath. He reached the bottom of the stairs and was met with a familiar face. "Oh, you're still here." Dan's mother grumbled, looking away from him.  
"Yes, I am. But not for long. What are you doing here?"  
"I came to see my son, is that a crime?"  
"Given what happened last time, yes." Phil pushed past her and into the lobby.  
"What are you doing with that box?"  
"Helping Dan move."  
"Move where?"  
"In with me." He replied simply, pushing the box into the back of the truck which was parked just outside. He smirked when he heard her gasp behind him.  
"What if I want to see him?" She snapped.  
"Well I guess you'll have to deal with it, or you could call him and see if he wants to come meet you." He strode back inside and began to walk up the stairs but turned around to face her. "It would be much appreciated if you left. Neither Dan nor I want to see your face again, and we weren't kidding when Pj threatened to call the police." She opened her mouth to reply but Phil didn't stay to hear it. He ran up the stairs two at a time until he reached the top and was far away from her. Dan met him at the door. "You okay? You've gone all red." He asked, looking concerned as Phil caught his breath. He thought about telling him about his encounter with his mother, but he didn't want to upset him, so instead he just nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I wanted to see how quickly I could get up the stairs." Dan laughed and kissed his nose. "You're an idiot."  
"Ah, but I'm your idiot."  
"That you are." He agreed, heading down the stairs with his box of clothes. Phil hoped for all their sakes that Dan's mother wasn't still waiting for him at the bottom.

A few minutes later however, Dan returned with a smile, so Phil guessed she had left, or at least she hadn't harassed him to leave with her. Dan grinned at him, running his fingers casually through Phil's hair as he walked past, making Phil shiver slightly. He turned back to the mugs he was packing. How could one man own this many mugs?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for this update, I went on a little bit of a Bioshock frenzy, replaying all the games and such.  
> This one is short like the last chapter, but do you guys prefer longer (7000+ words) or shorter (3000+ words) chapters?  
> I hope you enjoyed this one, let me know what you think and I shall see you guys with my next chapter :D


	4. Settle

Dan paced the living room. He had been living at Phil's for a few days now and he still was not quite adjusted. He like it, that was for certain. It was much better quality than his old apartment, but he just couldn't seem to make himself at home. He always felt like he would be going back home soon, despite the fact that all of his stuff was now here. He hadn't been sleeping well either. Phil's bed, though exceedingly comfortable, just wasn't his. He looked at the clock on the oven. 3:53am. It was almost 4 in the morning and he hadn't slept a wink. He heaved a sigh, sitting down on the sofa and putting his head in his hands. It was so frustrating! He liked it here with Phil, and there was no denying that he was happy, but he just couldn't relax. This was exactly the reason he hadn't wanted to move. He didn't blame Phil of course, he was just trying to help, and it was for good reason, but he at least wished he had been able to spend some time here first before moving in, just to get a feel for the place.

A yawn sounded behind him and he looked up to see Phil looking at him through heavy lidded eyes. His check pyjama top hanging off one shoulder and the mismatching bottoms loose on his hips. His hair was a mess and his face was paler than usual having just woken up. Dan gave him a small, not-so-reassuring smile, and looked away. "Go back to bed Phil, it's 4am."  
"Not without you." Phil mumbled, shuffling over to sit next to Dan. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing, I'm just not tired." He answered, though his words were proved otherwise by a large yawn that forced it's way up. Phil raised his eyebrow and Dan laughed awkwardly. "Come on Dan, seriously, what's wrong?" Phil placed his hand on Dan's knee. "Do you not like it here?"  
"No, it's not that, I just-" He paused and looked at Phil, who's eyes were wide and pleading him silently for an answer. He sighed, then answered rather quickly, his words stumbling over each other slightly. "I'm just not very good at adjusting to new places and situations, and I'd never been here before but now I'm living here and," he took a deep breath, "and I guess it's just going to take some time."  Phil leaned over to rest his head on Dan's shoulder.  
"That's alright. I'm sorry if I moved you too quickly."  
"No, no, it's not you're fault, you don't need to apologise. There was a reason. I just need to get used to it here, that's all." Dan reached around and ran his fingers through Phil's hair. Phil let out a relaxed sigh, then stood up and offered Dan his hand. "Come on, pacing the living room isn't going to help you get used to it here."  
"I dunno, I know the carpet pretty well." He replied sarcastically, taking Phil's hand. Phil smiled and lead Dan into his room. Phil collapsed onto the bed and curled up under the sheets. Dan stood watching him until Phil pulled him down beside him. "Just stay and cuddle." He ordered, turning around so he could curl against Dan's chest. "Yes sir." Dan smiled, laying his head on the pillow and closing his eyes, letting his tiredness get the better of him at last.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan awoke to the smell of pancakes. The bed was empty other than for himself, but the sheets were still somewhat warm, meaning Phil must have only been up for a few minutes. He rubbed his eyes, his mind hazy. He could barely remember what day it was. He rolled onto his back and flopped his arm over his face. "Dan?" Phil called from the kitchen, "You up?" Dan made a groaning noise in response. Phil peeked his head around the door and laughed. "Morning sleeping beauty. Get up, I made pancakes."  
"What time is it?" He grumbled, sitting up and staring around the room, which was starting to spin.  
"Around 10."  
"AM or PM?"  
"AM."  
"So I've been asleep, for, what? 6 hours?" He wasn't sure why he wanted the clarified, but it felt like he had been asleep for a lot longer than six hours. Phil let out a laugh. "More like 30. You slept all through yesterday. I had to call in sick for you at work." Dan's jaw dropped. No wonder he felt so weird, he had been in a small coma. Phil walked over to him and sat on the bed. He tapped his finger under Dan's jaw. "You might want to close this, or birds may think it's a nice nesting area." Dan closed his mouth but continued to stare. "Why didn't you wake me?"  
"I tried. Multiple times. But you just told me to fuck off and leave you alone, so I did."  
"I'm sorry." Dan laughed, leaning over to nuzzle Phil's neck. "I don't want you to fuck off."  
"Not anymore. You seemed pretty adamant about it yesterday." Phil pouted playfully, sticking his bottom lip out a comical amount, and Dan kissed it. "So what was that about pancakes?"  
"You hungry?"  
"Starving." They stood and made their way to the kitchen, Dan was closer to running towards the smell of the food than he was to walking. Phil followed, chuckling at Dan's eagerness.

On the table were two plates stacked high with pancakes. There was a small bowl of sugar, lemon juice, honey and cinnamon on the table and Dan squealed. "You're the best boyfriend ever!"  
"Why, because I made pancakes?"  
"Yes!" He sat down and began to pile sugar onto the first pancake, then drowned it in lemon juice. He rolled it up and took a bit, closing his eyes and savouring the flavour, making all manor of strange noises not often associated with food. Phil giggled. "Want me to leave you guys alone?"  
"Yes." Dan moaned, taking another huge bite of the pancake. "You make the best pancakes."  
"Delia Smith recipe." He replied, starting on his own pile.  
"Freaking Delia Smith. Goddess of all cooking." Phil hummed his agreement through a full mouth of food. They enjoyed their breakfast in near silence, bar the strange noises Dan would occasionally make.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Come on Dan, let's go out!" Phil bounced around the living room, bored out of his mind. He had been inside for way too long. Dan slid further into the couch, determinately staring at his laptop. "Dan please?" Phil got down on his knees and pawed at Dan's leg, looking at him through his eyelashes pleadingly. Dan sighed. "What would 'going out' entail?" He asked, still not looking away from his screen. Phil jumped back to his feet and began to pace the room, thinking about what they could do at 5pm. "We could get dinner, and we could go on the London Eye-"  
"Why the London Eye?" Dan question, finally looking away from his screen. Phil shrugged.  
"I dunno. I've never been on it before. I've been on the Manchester Eye. And it's supposed to be romantic and stuff, so I want to do it with you." Phil had stopped pacing and was now blushing. Dan nodded, trying not to show how much he was internally freaking out over those words. Standing up he gave Phil a quick kiss and headed towards the cupboard in the hallway. "So is that a yes?" Phil called after him. "Yes!" Dan replied, pulling his coat on. Phil squealed and ran to give Dan a hug from behind. "Thank you! You're the best!"  
"Phil, I'm going on a date with you, that doesn't make me the best. Besides, you're the one who made pancakes this morning."  
"Pancakes shmancakes." Phil said as he reached down to tie his shoes, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth. Dan laughed and ruffled Phil's hair.

The evening air was chilly and Dan pulled his coat tighter around himself.  Phil's teeth chattered a little as they walked. It was only a short walk to the restaurant from Phil's apartment. He could feel Phil shivering beside him and pulled him close. He took Phil's hand and put it in his pocket along with his own. Phil leaned into Dan, somehow much warmer than before, even though logic would say it shouldn't have made a difference. Dan kissed the top of Phil's head, breathing in the smell of Phil's shampoo - raspberries. The feminine scent always seemed to suit him particularly well.

They approached the familiar doors of the Green Pea, the smell of freshly cooked warm meals wafted into their nostrils and both their mouths began to water. Dan opened the door and held it for Phil. They were greeted with a loud hello from most of the customers and staff. The bartender winked at them and pointed to their usual table, which was vacant as always. Dan could never work out whether they reserved it for them, or whether people just didn't like that table. Either way he was fine with it, as it meant they always had that spot just for them. They went and sat down, not bothering to look at the menus - already knowing what it was they wanted to order. The waiter raised his eyebrow and jotted down the usual: fish and chips, and soup.

It came quickly as always, and smelled somehow better than usual, though that might just be because the only food they had really smelled recently was take-away, which might taste good, but didn't smell nearly as scrumptious. Phil hadn't realised how hungry he had been until that first bite. He swallowed and was immediately shoving another forkful into his mouth. Scarfing it down like he hadn't eaten in days. He looked up to see Dan doing the same. Sometimes, Phil thought, they were so in-sync it was creepy. They exchanged casual conversation with the customers, who could probably by now be considered at least close acquaintances.  
"So Margie, how are the kids."  
"Eldest's going to university soon. I'm gon' miss the ol' rascal."

And "How are things going with you two?"  
"Well! I just moved into Phil's place."  
"Big step that, you take care not to spend too much time together or you'll end up tearing at each other's throat's like Johnny over there and 'is wife."  
"Hey! We're sorting things out."  
"Of course you are Johnny dear, of course you are."

Even though most of the people there were older than them by several years, it was always brilliant coming in to see them. They must practically live here, Dan was thinking as the two of them left the building, shouting goodbyes and promises to take care and be back soon. Phil giggled after the door shut. "I love those guys." He whispered. Dan kissed his nose, which had gone pink from the sudden change in temperature. "I do too, they're awesome." Phil interlocked his fingers with Dan's and they began to walk in the direction of the Eye. "For some reason I am really looking forward to going on a big ferris wheel with you." Dan admitted, kind of surprised by how much he was actually getting excited by it. Phil squeezed his hand and picked up his pace. Obviously he couldn't wait either.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

There weren't many people in line for tickets, as it was too late for families, and too early for most romantic couples, and so it only took around 10 minutes for them to be seated in gondola. Phil sat opposite Dan, simply looking at him. He felt the wheel begin to move and still continued to watch Dan. Dan on the other hand, was staring out of the window, transfixed by the lights of the city. Dan reached out a hand absently in front of him and Phil took it, squeezing it gently. Dan's hand was cold compared to Phil's who had had his in Dan's jacket pocket the entire walk here.

A strand of hair blew across Dan's face and tickled his cheeks. He scrunched up his nose and blew them out of the way, his eyes still gazing fixedly out of the window as they rose ever higher. The lights from the buildings were reflecting in his eyes, making the brown seem darker than usual, but the eye as a whole looked a lot brighter. There were slight crinkles at the corner of his eyes from where he smile was reaching. His cheeks and ears were flushed red and his skin had a light pink tinge. Phil wondered briefly if he looked the same in that regard. He couldn't help admiring Dan. He was so gorgeous, so handsomely built, so damn perfect in every manner and he had no idea how he had gotten so lucky. Dan looked over and caught Phil's gaze. "You okay?" He asked, his voice breaking the silence. Phil nodded, any words he wanted to say at that moment all rushed to be said at once and got stuck in his throat, so he just smiled. Dan returned the smile and looked back out of the window. Phil had to let Dan know how he felt, and not just with kisses or cuddles or even sex. With words. He had to tell Dan. He had to. He didn't know why but if he didn't tell him right now he felt as though he would implode. "Dan-" He stopped, suddenly unsure of himself. What if Dan didn't feel the same and he screwed everything up?  
"I love you, Phil." Dan said quietly, his gaze now fixed on Phil, who stared. He felt the same way! Dan loved him! His heart felt like it was doing backflips in his chest. He had never felt this way before. He leaned over and kissed him, their lips softly sliding over one another, softly but passionately. He couldn't put into words how incredible he felt. How perfect this moment was. He never wanted it to end. He wanted to freeze this moment just after Dan told him he loved him and stay in it forever. He pulled away so that his lips were only just brushing against Dan's. "I love you too."

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

How does one describe the feeling of loving another so intensely that their entire being depends on the other? Phil couldn't describe how he felt as he looked down at Dan, who looked right back at him through half lidded eyes. He couldn't describe how he felt when his eyes roamed Dan's perfect body, taking in every inch of it as though he would be tested later. He couldn't describe how he felt as he kissed Dan, pouring every ounce of feeling he had into it. He couldn't describe how he felt when Dan whispered "I love you, I love you, I love you." over and over again into his shoulder, his teeth scraping Phil's skin. There was no way to describe it. There were no words that could possibly do justice to the way Phil felt. No words could ever live up to the way his heart flipped in his chest and his stomach filled with butterflies. There were no words. Not ever.

Dan lay beside Phil, who had fallen asleep quickly after they had finished. He smiled, looking over at him and gently moving hair out of his face. "I love you Phil. I really love you." He whispered, before climbing out of the bed and heading for the bathroom for a shower. He didn't think he would be able to sleep much, not because he still wasn't used to it, and not because he had slept so much only the previous night, but because he still couldn't control his breathing. Every time even the tiniest thought of Phil came to mind his entire thought process just stopped and spun back to the moment on the Eye. He definitely had no expected that when Phil had said 'romantic'. He hadn't even been expecting to tell Phil that he loved him, it had kind of just slipped out, though the consequences were much more incredible than he could have ever imagined.

The hot water slipped over his skin and he sat down. He was never really one for sitting down in the shower, but right now he didn't think he could stand any longer. His mind was spinning and every single one of his thoughts was on Phil. How Phil had looked when Dan had said he loved him. The slight huskiness in his voice when he had said the words back. Dan closed his eyes. No-one had ever said those words to him before, not even his parents, and there Phil was; such earnest in his voice that it almost made Dan want to cry. Such love in his eyes that Dan's hands shook. Such emotion in his kiss that Dan could barely keep it together. He placed his head on his knees. He had never been this happy, and suspected he never would be again. He wanted to savour this. Memorise the feeling. Remember every tiny little detail.

He finished his shower and headed back to the bedroom. Phil was curled up on his side, shivering slightly. Dan smiled fondly and tiptoed over to the bed, slowly sliding in beside him so as not to wake him, and pulled the duvet over them. Unconsciously Phil leaned closer to Dan, his head nudging his arm. Dan giggled. "I love you." He said for what felt like the millionth time. He liked saying it just as much as he liked hearing it. He leaned over and switched off the lamp, making sure not to wake Phil, and snuggled down into the sheets, letting sleep wash over him, Phil's voice filling his dreams.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil woke up the next morning much colder than usual. Dan was still asleep next to him, half dressed, with his hair all over the place. Memories of the previous night came flooding back and he had to hold himself back from squealing. Movement outside the window caught his eye and he turned. Small fluffs of snow were swirling down outside the window, setting on the window frame and the trees, making everything they could white. Phil gasped. He loved snow days! Going out and making snow angels and snowmen. Having snowball fights. Taking in the general beauty as is glimmered on the ground. And now he got to share all this with Dan! He couldn't wait another minute. "Dan!" He whispered, gently shaking Dan's shoulder. "Dan wake up!" Dan grunted and swatted at Phil's hand. "Dan wake up, it snowing!"

"Lee-me-'lone." He groaned, turning to face away from Phil, who laughed.  
"Nope! Come on Dan it's snowing, we can go make snowmen and have snowball fights and put footprints in all the untouched areas!"  
"Pancakes." Dan muttered into the pillow.  
"Huh?"  
"Make me pancakes, then I'll do it."  
"I'll make you pancakes after you do it. Just 20 minutes. Please?"  
"Fiiiiine." Dan rolled out of the bed and onto the floor with an 'oofh', making Phil giggle. He turned to mock glare at him. "You laughing at my pain?"  
"Yes."  
"How dare you!"  
"How dare you!"  
"Now I'm confused."  
"Just get up!"  
"Has anyone ever told you that you're far too impatient?" Dan muttered, getting up and looking for his coat on the floor. "Yes they have. You especially."  
"And?"  
"And I don't care. Here." He threw Dan's coat at him and Dan sloppily put it on. Putting arms through sleeves required far too much co-ordination in the morning.

Phil was already bouncing by the door completely ready by the time Dan had stumbled out of the bedroom with his boots. Phil urged him to hurry up as Dan fell over trying to pull the boot over his foot. "Seriously, I'll do it for you if you don't hurry."  
"I'm done, I'm done! Now lets go before you implode." Phil nodded and flung open the door, running down the single flight of stairs and out into the snow. Dan grabbed his hat and followed, shutting the door behind him and pulling his hat over his head. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around for Phil. A hand grabbed him out of no-where, pulling him down into the snow and making him shriek. "Wow that was manly." Phil laughed, waving his arms up and down to make a snow angle. Dan frowned but joined in. Phil stood and bent down next to the angle he made, writing something in the snow with his finger. Dan sat up and saw 'I <3 Dan' written in the snow. He blushed, and pulled Phil over so he could kiss him. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel kinda bad referencing the Valentines Day video, as I know how Dan and Phil hate it being talked about, but FOR FICTION!!!  
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)  
> See you soon


	5. Trip

Dan sat at the keyboard he had finally managed to convince Phil to let him buy. It was sat in the corner of the living room, looking very new and unused. He placed his hands in their familiar position over the notes and gently pressed down. The sound was a little more sharp than he was used to with a grand piano, which was a lot more gentle, but he could deal with that. He felt Phil come up behind him and lean against him ever so slightly, making his back hunch forward. "So that was Peej on the phone." Phil muttered quietly, like he didn't want to disturb Dan.  
"Hmm?" Dan hummed, only half paying attention, trying to get used to the feel of the plastic keys.  
"He and a friend of his, Chris, got four tickets to Italy and was wondering whether we would like to take them."  
"Cool."  
"Well?" Phil nudged Dan's head with his elbow, making Dan stop playing and look up at him.  
"Well what?"  
"Well, do you want to go to Italy?"  
"Italy?" Dan frowned. Evidently he had missed the main part of whatever Phil had been saying. Phil raised his hands in exasperation. "Oh my god Dan! Pj and his friend invited us to Italy. Yes or no?"  
"Oh! Yes! Why the hell would I say no?" Dan grinned at Phil. He had been to Italy once with his parents when he was 4, but he didn't remember it at all.  
"Well I'm glad, I'd already accepted." Phil winked and turned to walk away. "Call work and say you're taking the week off next week."

"Next week! That's in two days Phil!"  
"Yeah, I know. Better get moving then. Chop chop." He chuckled to himself as he walked back into their bedroom. Dan turned back to the keyboard and looked at it wistfully before turning it off and fishing his phone out of his pocket. He dialled the work number and waited.  
"Hello?"  
"Um, hey Mark, this is Dan."  
"Oh, Dan, how can I help?"  
"I'm going to need to take next week off."  
"That's very short notice Dan. Why?"  
"Well, um...Phil's really sick and I need to be here to look after him and in case he needs to go to hospital." He felt bad lying, but he knew he would never get the week off for a holiday in Italy. There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Alright. One of our other staff is taking next week off too, but he's going to Italy. You wouldn't happen to know about that would you Dan?" Dan frowned. Dan couldn't remember there being mention of anyone else. "No. Who is it?"  
"It doesn't matter. I hope Mr Lester feels better soon. Goodbye."  
"Thank you sir, goodbye." He hung up the phone and sighed. He didn't really like lying, but he wouldn't be able to go if he hadn't. Besides, this was the first time he had ever missed work for a reason that wasn't illness or super over-tiredness. "I got the week off." He called to Phil, who woohoo'd in response. "Now to start packing I guess." he muttered. He hated packing. It always seemed like so much effort. Then after all the effort you made to pack everything, you would always find you'd forgotten something important once you got there. It just didn't seem worth the trouble in Dan's opinion.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It was 2:30am as they sat in the uncomfortable plastic airport chairs waiting for Pj and his friend. Dan's head was leaning on Phil's shoulder, eyes closed and only just staying awake. Phil poked him gently. "Dan?"  
"Mmm?"  
"Don't go to sleep yet. You can sleep on the plane."  
"I'm not sleeping." He muttered, readjusting his position so that he was more comfortable. Phil smiled fondly and ran his fingers through Dan's hair, gently combing trough any tangles. "I love you." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of Dan's head. Dan made a small, almost inaudible noise and buried his face into Phil's shoulder, which Phil suspected meant 'I love you too'.

A loud thumping noise behind them made them jump. Dan smacked his head into Phil's chin and then fell on the floor, rubbing the top of his head and looking around angrily for the source of the noise. What he saw was Pj with Chris, both keeled over laughing and Phil wrinkling his nose in distaste as he adjusted his jaw. "Sorry." Chris laughed, wiping a tear from beneath his eye.  
"No you're not." Dan muttered angrily, getting back up to sit on the chair.  
"You're right, I'm not. That was funny. So how's Danny boy?"  
"How many times must I ask you not to call me that?"  
"Wait," Phil interrupted, looking between Chris and Dan quizzically, "You guys know each other?"  
"Yeah, Chris works at the restaurant." Dan explained, turning away from Chris's laughing face.  
"And you didn't think to tell me?"  
"Well, in all fairness, I didn't actually hear who you said would be coming with us."  
"No, of course you didn't." Phil huffed, folding his arms over his chest. Chris leaned over the back of the chair so his head was between them. He gave Phil a smile and a wink and held out his hand. "I'm Chris. It's good to finally meet you."  
"Finally?"  
"God yeah. Dan never shuts up about you." Chris laughed as Phil blushed. Dan took hold of his hand and smiled at him comfortingly.

"All passengers for flight 209 to the boarding station please. That's all passengers for flight 209 to the boarding station." A woman's voice sounded over the intercom, making the four of them silent. "That's us isn't it Peej?" Dan asked and Pj nodded, grabbing an envelope from his backpack and waving it around. Small handwriting on the front read '209 tickets - me, Chris, Dan, Phil.' And underneath in bigger, messier handwriting read 'THE FANTASTIC FOUR'.  
"The Fantastic Four?" Phil asked, reading the words on the envelope.  
"Chris." Pj answered simply, and Chris shrugged.

The line of people waiting to board the plane was growing quite quickly. Dan tapped his foot impatiently. "Why is it they tell us to start boarding before they've even opened the plane doors?"  
"Because it would be logical to do otherwise?" Pj suggested and Dan groaned, throwing himself dramatically against Phil, who stumbled backwards into Chris, who had to be caught by Pj. "Dan calm down. We'll be getting on in a few minutes max." Phil said, righting himself and looking behind him to make sure Chris and Peej were alright.

Phil was right. It only took a few minutes before the tickets began being checked and people started boarding. Inside the plane was warmer than Phil had expected; like they had been heating it up before they had started boarding. They quickly found their seats, Dan and Phil on the left near the middle, and Chris and Pj directly in front of them. Phil searched his backpack for his book before stashing it and sitting down next to Dan. The hostess was coming round and giving people the free plane stuff and Dan gasped loudly. "What?" Phil asked, looking at Dan who was watching something with very wide eyes. "BUBBLES!"  
"What?" he asked again, now more confused. Dan pointed to a hostess who was handing a small bottle of bubble liquid to a young child. "Dan you're not a child."  
"No, but I still want the bubbles."  
"Well ask if you can have them when she comes around." he said, regretting it immediately as Dan bounced around in his seat, impatiently waiting for someone to give him bubbles. It was very hard to concentrate on reading when there was a 22 year old male acting like an overexcited 4 year old beside him. "Dan, please-"  
"Good morning gentlemen." A smiling hostess appeared beside them, pushing a tray filled with assorted free stuff. "We have slippers, headphones, a blanket and-"  
"Bubbles!" Dan squealed. The hostess' smile faltered a little, but restored quickly. She nodded and gave Dan the bottle of bubble liquid. "Anything else sir?"  
"Um, the blanket and the slippers." Dan said, putting the bubble liquid on his lap. She handed the slippers and the blanket then directed her smile at Phil. "And how about you sir?"  
"Just the slippers, thanks." he smiled politely as he took them and then turned to Dan, who was already blowing bubbles and giggling. Phil kissed his cheek and put his book in the pouch in front of him. There was no way he would be able to read on this flight.

Soon enough Dan was leaning on Phil's shoulder, snoring softly whilst Phil watched Captain Phillips, which he soon decided was a bad choice of movie for someone flying on a plane. He turned it off and Dan slipped down his arm so his head was hanging awkwardly. Phil lifted his head up gently and put the arm rest up, then lowered Dan onto his lap. The blanket had slipped under his feet so he turned to ask Pj to grab it, only to discover that both he and Chris were asleep as well. "Damn it." He muttered under his breath, trying to kick it out with his foot without waking Dan up, which proved difficult. Dan grunted and shuffled around, making Phil stop still. "Sorry." he whispered, unsure whether Dan could hear him or not. He rang the bell for assistance, feeling bad for calling someone over for something this mediocre. A young male appeared shortly, asking what he could help with. "Could I please get a blanket?" he gestured to Dan asleep on his lap and the man nodded. Phil relaxed in his chair, leaning back as far as he could without disturbing Pj.

When Dan woke up an hour later, it was dark. He could  hear breathing from behind him and he sat up, a blanket sliding off him. Most of the people around him were asleep and he looked to see Phil, his head tilted back and his mouth hanging open. Dan smiled. Phil must have put the blanket over him to keep him comfortable. He tapped Phil's shoulder to wake him up. Phil snorted and blinked. "Come here." Dan said quietly, holding open his arms, allowing Phil to snuggle down onto his lap and fall straight back asleep. He leaned down sideways and picked up the blanket that had slid off him onto floor, and draped it over Phil. He turned on the small TV and scrolled through the list of movies. He stopped on one called Captain Phillips. "Looks interesting." he murmured, plugging his earphones in and relaxing back in his seat.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It was still early morning when they arrived at the hotel, everyone but Dan groggy from having just woken up. "I'll check us in then shall I?" He asked, watching as the three of them slumped into chairs in the lobby. Phil nodded and muttered something Dan couldn't hear. Pj held out a piece of paper with the information Dan would need to check them in. Dan sighed and took it, heading over to the check in desk and ringing the bell. The air was warm and muggy, despite the early time. A small Italian man came out of a room behind the counter and smiled at Dan. "Checking in?" Dan nodded.  
"What's your name?"  
"Well, there's four of us, and we're under Liguori." he peered at the paper, then passed it to the man, so that he could just work it out instead. The man tapped at the computer, occasionally looking down at the paper. He hummed as he worked, then nodded. "Alright, let me go get your room keys." He went back into the room he had come from, and quickly came back out with two hotel room keys. He slid them over to Dan. "Two of you will be in room 84, and the other two will be in room 86. Have a good stay." He bowed and Dan thanked him, hurrying back to the other three, who were still on the sofas. "We got our room keys. Come on guys, let's go." He got a couple of grunts in response. "Breakfast is at 8, we can go back and sleep, then meet for breakfast. The beds are probably much more comfortable than the chairs." Another grunt. "Okay fine, but I'm going up. I'll bring the room keys with me. 84, and 86. Come find me when you're ready." He picked up his suitcase and rolled it over to the elevator. An arm wrapped itself around his waist making him jump. "I'm coming." Phil sleepily said against his shoulder. Dan smiled and kissed his cheek. "The other two coming?"  
"Not that I can see." Dan looked over his shoulder to see Pj slowly sliding off the chair and Chris curled up with his head on his lap, slowly sinking off the chair with him. "Ah, if only I had the patience to watch how that's going to turn out." Dan sniggered as the elevator doors pinged open. Dan practically dragged Phil inside and pressed the button for floor 4. Just before the doors closed Dan watched as Chris finally slid off the chair and onto the floor with a thud. He held back a laugh. Phil leaned back against the cool metal wall. "Daaan." He whined.  
"Yes Phil?"  
"I'm tired."  
"Aw. Who's the small child now?"  
"Still you." Phil smiled sleepily at him and Dan chuckled.

They found their room at the end of the fourth floor corridor and unlocked it. The room was pretty spacious, with two large beds in the middle of the room against the wall, a good sized television, a small fridge and a wardrobe. The walls were painted a beige colour with thin brown stripes painted every metre or so. Phil collapsed onto the closest bed and murmured an almost incoherent 'night' before falling fast asleep. Dan shook his head and looked around the room. He heaved his suitcase onto the bed and unzipped it, putting everything away then looking over to Phil's case. He didn't want to intrude on Phil's personal things, but at the same time he didn't want Phil to have to waste his time unpacking when he woke up when he could be eating pancakes for breakfast. He didn't know why he felt so intrusive going through Phil's suitcase. It was very unlikely that he had brought some super secret personal item with him on a trip to Italy. Taking a deep breath he picked up Phil's case, deciding to just put away his clothes and leave the rest for Phil to sort out.

The bathroom smelled really good, not like usual bathroom cleaning products. More like a faint minty kind of smell. He took a deep breath, the minty scent cooling his nose and throat. There were little bottles of shampoo, conditioner and soap lined up next to the sink and he took them, placing them in the shower and turning it on. It felt really good to shower after a flight, Dan always felt so grimy after sitting on a plane for even just an hour. He massaged the shampoo into his scalp, the bubbles running down his back and arms, smelling faintly of lemon. His usual stuff smelled like lime and coconut, but this was pretty good too.

He heard the bathroom door creak open as he was rubbing soap on his stomach. He smeared a hole in the steamed up glass of the shower and saw Phil standing there. "Mind if I join you?" He asked, looking slightly shy, which Dan found simply adorable. Dan nodded and opened the door slightly. Phil quickly undressed and stepped into the stream of water. "Sleep well?" Dan asked, his eyes roaming Phil's body. Phil nodded and stepped closer to Dan. "Would have been better with you next to me though."  
"That was so cheesy."  
"You like cheese."  
"Yeah, but you don't." Dan pointed out, gulping as Phil took yet another step closer. His back was pressed against the shower wall now. Phil smiled. "You're right, I don't. I do like you though."  
"That was even more-" Phil cut him off, pressing himself against Dan and attacking his lips with a kiss. Dan grunted in surprise, though he hadn't expected anything less. Phil's fingers trailed up Dan's arms and down his torso, tracing all the contours of his stomach. "God I love you." Phil purred, gently tugging on Dan's lip with his teeth. Dan could only gasp in response, already completely lost to the man before him.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Lets play Mario Kart!" Phil exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. The four of them had been trying to find something good to watch on TV while they waiting for the rain to ease up so they could go out for dinner. Dan was hanging upside-down off the edge of Pj's bed and Chris was sitting on his legs. "Sounds good to me." Pj nodded, throwing the remote aside and picking up his DS. "Yup just let me get up and-"  
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Dan screeched, trying to get back up on the bed. Chris laughed, slowly adjusting his weight off Dan and watching him slip off the bed. "Chris don't be mean." Pj laughed, dragging Dan off the bed and onto the ground. "Thanks Peej. Chris, you're just an asshole."  
"Don't I know it." Chris winked and Dan scowled. "So can I get my DS now?"  
"Yes Chris you can get it now that my life isn't depending on your body weight."  
"Dan you wouldn't have died. You weren't that high off the ground.'  
"Not the point Phil."  
"Yeah it-"  
"Not the point."  
"Dan, it-"  
"Shhhhh," Dan pressed his finger against Phil's lips, "It's not the point." Phil raised an eyebrow and licked him. "So are we playing Mario Kart or what?" he asked, wiping his finger on Phil's shirt. Chris nodded, waving his DS around in the air. "Are ours still here from this morning?"  
"They should be." Pj gestured around the room absently. Phil got to his feet and searched around the area in which they had been playing Pokémon that morning. He soon found them hidden under a pile of long pillows.

Dan crawled back onto the bed and started up Mario Kart. "You guys ready?"  
"Just waiting on you." Pj replied.  
"Alright then. Start with Peach Gardens?"  
"You're on." Chris muttered, eyes fixed on the screen. The four of them sat in a row on Pj's bed, all determinately glaring at their individual screens. The race started and already it was filled with everyone shoving everyone else's kart off track. Dan managed to get ahead quickly, escaping the other contestants and zooming past the obstacles, until of course, Pj - playing as Princess Peach - caught up. "Fuck ooooff!" Dan growled as Pj caught up and Pj cackled, sending a red shell his way. His kart flipped. "PEACH YOU MOTHER FUCKING ASSHOLE OH MY GOD TOAD FUCK YOU AND YOUR MUSHROOMS!" Dan keeled sideways off the bed making annoying screeching sounds. He grabbed one of the long pillows and swung it at Pj, who yelped and dropped his DS. "Was that necessary?"  
"It's always necessary to beat my enemies with large pillows." Dan chuckled, swinging the pillow again, but accidentally hitting Phil. "Hey!" Phil squawked, rolling off the bed to grab his own pillow and whacking Dan's leg with it. "DUEL!" Chris called, scrambling away from the action to get a better view. Pj crawled over to join him. Dan jumped up onto the bed and winked at Phil, who followed his lead. "In the left corner," Pj called, "Dan!" he pointed to Dan, who jumped around on the bed. "And in the right corner. Phil!" He pointed to Phil, who put on his 'game face'. "3. 2. 1. Fight!" Pj called and Dan leapt forward, bringing the pillow down on Phil's back. Phil yelped and began attacking Dan's legs. Dan tripped slightly, falling onto Phil, who fell. Dan saw his moment and jumped on top of him. "Winner, DAN!" Chris shouted and Pj cheered. Phil was giggling underneath Dan. Dan kissed the top of his head and sat up, offering his hand to help him up, which Phil took.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Last day." Pj said, looking down at his breakfast.  
"I'm going to miss the  infinite waffles." Phil agreed, taking a huge bite of his syrup coated waffles.  
"Yeah. We should do something like this again." Dan nodded.  
"The Fantastic Foursome."  
"That really stuck with you, huh Chris." Pj chuckled and Chris shrugged. None of them wanted to go home. It hadn't seemed like nearly long enough, and they were already going home. "We have an hour before the flight. We're all packed right?" Dan asked, looking around at the three of them, all of whom nodded. "Well, we should go swimming. We don't really get much opportunity back home. We can swim for half an hour, then get changed and head to the airport." He suggested, looking wistfully over at the pool. He loved it in there. It was so different to what he was used to. Sun, warm pool water, swimming outdoors. "Sounds good to me." Phil said through his final large mouthful of waffle. Chris and Pj looked at each other before nodding. "We'll just bring our stuff down to the pool."  
"Alright then. Let's go!"

They sat by the pool, their legs dangling in the cool water. "Hey Phil?" Dan said, leaning onto Phil's shoulder.  
"Yeah?"  
"I dare you to dive off the diving board."  
"Um. Alright." Phil said, standing up and walking towards the diving board, before running back to push Dan in. "Oi!" Dan yelled, splashing everyone with water. Phil ran away cackling madly. He mounted the diving board and walked slowly to the half way point. He took a deep breath and ran to the end, yelping as he became airborne, and hitting the water with a large splash. He arose spluttering next to Dan. "I did it." He coughed, rubbing water from his eyes.  
"Yeah, and swallowed half the pool in the process it would seem." Dan teased, and Phil punched his arm. "I still did it."  
"Yes, you did. I'm very proud."  
"I hate you."  
"I love you too." Dan said, hauling himself out of the pool and grabbing their towels. "Come on, or we'll miss the flight."

"I'll miss it here." Chris said, looking out of the plane window.  
"We should definitely come back some day."  
"Definitely."  
"Definitely."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how much I like this chapter, especially at the end. I was having quite a severe case of writers block, along with not feeling too great (which is why I didn't continue on with the smut that I totally would have finished writing in any other situation) and screwing my back up. All in all this chapter was a lot more difficult to write than it should have been, but I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for reading!


	6. First Video

Dan arrived home late from work due to the bus being delayed. He heaved a sigh as he opened the front door, dumping all of his things in a pile on the floor and making a mental note to pick them up later, after he had a nap. "Phil?" He called, wanting to know if dinner had already been made or if he should just order some pizza. No reply. "Phil, you here?" He called again, wandering through the house to the living room. Still nothing. Maybe he had gone to bed early. Rubbing his temples he made his way to their bedroom, completely intent on at least taking a long nap before doing anything else. He opened the door to find Phil sat on the bed in front of a large stack of books, on top of which was his phone, supported by a stuffed lion. "Um...Phil?" Dan said slowly, "what, exactly, are you doing?"  
"Filming." Phil replied simply, staring at a piece of paper next to him.  
"Care to elaborate?" Dan asked, sitting on the floor beside the bed.  
"Well, I was thinking of starting a YouTube channel. I've heard people can make money from it, and it seems like fun, so I thought I would give it a shot. Besides, it's not really like I have anything better to do."  
"Wait. You mean you're going to put videos of yourself on the internet?"  
"Well, I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to be in them too." Phil shrugged, getting up to look at  his phone, checking that the angle was still on him. Dan stared. Him, on the internet? For everyone to see? No. Phil, sure. He was attractive, funny, adorable, and everything else that people love, but Dan was just...Dan. He couldn't. He just couldn't. Dan shook his head, backing away slightly. "No, I'm sorry Phil. I can't do that."  
"What? Why?" Phil asked, looking over at him with pleading eyes."  
"I just can't." Dan repeated, standing up and backing out of the room. He wasn't even sure why he was so nervous and upset about it. "I'm going to get myself some dinner." He turned and fled to the kitchen, leaving Phil rather confused behind him.

He leaned on the kitchen counter, his eyes closed. Maybe it was just stress that caused him to freak out like that. His life wasn't particularly stressful though, but nothing else came to mind. He hadn't had some dark and pitiful thing happen to him when he was younger that made him scared of being in YouTube videos, he just sort of...flipped out.  
"You okay Dan?" He heard Phil ask tentatively from across the room. Dan nodded without looking up. "Are you sure? Because that didn't really seem the sort of thing one does when they're okay."  
"I'm fine, Phil. I promise. I don't know what happened, I just freaked out." Phil approached him and wrapped his arm around him, allowing Dan to rest his head on his chest. "Sorry." He murmured.  
"What for?"  
"I'm assuming I freaked you out a little back there."  
"Well, sure, a little, but I don't blame you or anything."  
"Promise?" Dan's voice cracked, making him sound worse than he actually felt. Phil put a finger under his chin and lifted his head so he was looking at him. "I promise. Not everyone wants to be in online videos, and that's fine. Seriously Dan, I wasn't going to force you." He smiled at Dan reassuringly, then cleared his throat. "Right, well I didn't make any dinner, and I assume you can't be bothered, so pizza?"  
"Pizza." Dan agreed, grinning. That was one of the many things he loved about Phil. He never pushed him, and he never thought that he was being silly. Instead of telling Dan to stop being a loser he would just hug him and reassure him in a way only Phil knew how, and then he would make him smile. He would never dwell; just move on and make Dan happy. Dan leaned up and kissed Phil's cheek, whispered "I love you.", then pulled his phone out of his pocket to order the pizza.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He could hear Phil seemingly talking to no-one in their room, discussing his life, and how he would attract strange people. Dan was starting to suspect that people did perfectly ordinary things around Phil, but those actions would then be interpreted as some strange thing no-one else did. Not that it mattered. He liked watching Phil's videos on YouTube, even though he was there for almost the entire process of him making it. He found them endearing, and often found himself giggling at something Phil said, even though Phil had told him about it a million times before he had even considered making a video about it.

He flicked through the channels on the TV, wondering absently why there was never anything good on when people needed something good to watch. Like 2am. Who wants to watch infomercials all night? Nobody. Nobody wants to watch infomercials all night. If they're awake they want to be watching something interesting like Friends, or Breaking Bad, or American Horror Story. Just something interesting. The volume was on 2, making the absolutely riveting Berry Blaster infomercial all the more exciting. Dan sighed in defeat and switched off the TV. If he could be bothered he would put a movie on, but he couldn't, and he couldn't go to bed until Phil had finished filming. "Phil, are you nearly done yet?" He called.  
"Well, I was. But now I have to redo that take." Phil shouted back, making Dan groan.  
"Why can't you do this during the day, or when I'm at work or something? I just want to go to bed."  
"I know, I'm sorry Dan. Just let me finish this, and then I promise it won't happen again."  
"Fine." Dan slid further down on the couch in an attempt to make himself comfortable, but instead he just ended up with the corner of a cushion digging into his neck. "Fucking hell." he muttered, propelling himself into the middle of the couch and curling up into a ball. Damn he was tired.

Dan was awoken shortly after falling asleep by Phil sitting next to him. He groaned and dragged himself up so that his head was on Phil's lap. "You know, it would be better for you if you were in the videos." Phil said, stroking Dan's hair.  
"Yeah? How so?"  
"Well, for one you wouldn't just be waiting for me to finish. You would be in there finishing it with me."  
"But I don't want to be in your videos."  
"And why is that?"  
"I don't know. I just don't." Dan replied, burying his face into Phil's stomach. He felt Phil sigh and shrug. He felt bad. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to be in Phil's videos. It was more that he was afraid of what the people who watched them would think of him. He didn't want people telling him he was unattractive, or that Phil deserved better, or that he wasn't funny. He already knew these things. He didn't want to hear them from some anonymous stranger on the internet. "I'm going to bed now." he whispered, getting up and giving Phil a quick kiss before traipsing off into their room and burying his head under the sheets.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Dan?" Phil called from the living room, looking up from his laptop.  
"Yeah?" Dan replied from the kitchen.  
"I know you don't want to be in my videos-"  
"Phil, not this again. Please. I'm not going to just 'pop in' at the end." Dan cut him off, draining water from his pot of noodles.  
"Dan, let me finish. I was going to say, some people want me to do a 'day in the life', but my day involves you, so I was going to ask if you would mind if I filmed a vlog on Saturday when we go out."  
"Phil, I-"  
"You wouldn't have to say anything if you don't want to. You'd just occasionally appear in the corner whilst I talk to myself."  
"I don't know, I-"  
"Please Dan. Just this one time. Please?" Phil made sure that the puppy dog eyes he was giving in the direction of the kitchen could easily be heard in his voice. He heard Dan place a bowl on the counter, then "Fine."  
"Yes!" Phil cheered jumping up from the sofa and running into the kitchen to catch Dan in a hug.  
"Careful!" Dan chuckled as Phil's arms flew around his middle. "I would rather not drop a heavy pot on my foot."  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"  
"I'm really not sure what you're thanking me for. I'm not agreeing to be a main feature."  
"No, I know. I'm just excited that you finally agreed to sort of, not really be in a video!" Phil stepped back, grinning goofily at Dan, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. "You're too cute for your own good. You know that?" Dan asked him, kissing his cheek. "You want some noodles?"  
"Sure. Thank you." Phil nodded, making his way back to the living room. He was far too excited about Dan finally accepting to be in a video. Even if it was just in the corner of a shot, his fans would finally be able to see how perfect he is. Phil talked about him constantly, and so many people asked him on a regular basis to show them Dan, but he kept denying them because Dan never wanted to be seen on camera, but now they finally could. He was so, extremely excited for Saturday.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil's alarm blared at 7am and both of them groaned. Dan buried his head under the pillow to try and drown out the noise, and Phil waved his arm about in search of his alarm clock, knocking over a couple of stuffed animals in the process. "Sorry." he mumbled, peering down at them from the bed. He couldn't quite tell which animals they were, as they were mostly just a blurry pile on the floor, and he almost felt bad because he couldn't personally apologise to whoever it was he flung to the floor, but at that current point in time he was too busy locating his alarm clock to feel too bad. "Phiiiil." Dan whined from next to him.  
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I can't find it."  
"Oh my god." Dan flung himself over Phil and switched off the alarm, then collapsed back on top of him. "If you're going to set an alarm for a stupid time in the morning, at least make sure you don't shut the curtains so you can see the damn alarm clock."  
"Right. Sorry."  
"What time is it anyway?" Dan picked up the clock and looked at it. "7. It's 7 o'clock in the morning. We're not going to school Phil."  
"No, but we are filming a day in the life."  
"And since when did out lives ever involve getting up at seven?"  
"Fine. You go back to sleep. I'm going to make some breakfast."  
"Have fun." Dan said, collapsing back onto his pillow and pulling the duvet over his head. Phil grabbed a small digital camera. "Hey guys." He whispered, reaching over for his glasses and putting them on. "Ah, I can see you now! You're looking good."  
"I thought you said you were getting breakfast." Dan grumbled, making Phil laugh. He pointed the camera at Dan. "And that's Dan. Still mostly asleep." Dan slipped his hand out from under the sheets and waved. "Well, that's his arm at least. I'm going to go get breakfast. Don't know if we have anything good though. Might just make some toast."  
"Pancakes!" Dan called after him as he left the room.  
"I made pancakes last week."  
"That was a whole week ago! I want some pancakes!"  
"Come help me make them then."  
"But that's so much un-needed effort."  
"Toast it is then." he winked at the camera, knowing that Dan would soon follow him, just so he could get some pancakes. He walked into the kitchen and found the bread, making a show of getting it out of the bag. "Oh my god fine I'll do it. You're so pushy!" Dan said, stomping into the kitchen and mock glaring at Phil. "Morning sunshine." Phil greeted. Dan narrowed his eyes, but kissed Phil's cheek.  
"I'll get the ingredients."  
"I can get the ingredients if you want."  
"Phil. I don't trust you with a carton of eggs with two hands, let alone one." Dan winked at him and crossed over to the fridge to grab what they'd need. "Blueberries?" He asked, picking up the carton of blueberries and waving them at Phil, who nodded. "Blueberries. Yum."

They mixed the batter, occasionally spilling something on the floor, to which Dan would dramatically roll his eyes and sigh 'Phil.', even if it was entirely his fault. Phil just laughed, capturing it all on the camera as he and Dan danced around the kitchen. He could see Dan warming to it. Now that he was used to it he seemed to love being on camera. "So Dan, is this something we do on a daily basis?" Phil asked, him, preparing to flip another pancake. Dan looked straight at the camera with a serious look. "Yes. This is literally what we do every morning. I'm not even joking. We act like morons in the kitchen while making breakfast. Although we are usually making breakfast at around lunch time. Phil just decided to wake us up early."  
"I did." Phil agreed, putting the pancake onto the pile. "And I think that's enough, don't you?" Phil looked over to see Dan half way through pouring the batter into the pan. "One more then I guess." and Dan smiled, finishing off the pancake.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan collapsed onto the sofa and Phil followed suit. "That was surprisingly fun." Dan said, not looking over to see the smug grin on Phil's face. "I told you."  
"No you didn't. You just told me that I should."  
"Same thing."  
"Is not."  
"Is too."  
"Is not."  
"Is-" Dan cut him off by leaning over and kissing  him. Phil ran his hand through Dan's hair, allowing the strands to fall gently through his fingers. "I love you Dan," Phil said quietly, pulling away to look at him, "I really, really love you."  
"And I love you too.  Very much so." Dan pushed Phil down so that he was on top of him and kissed him again. "In fact, I love you so much, that I'm going to go to bed now." He winked and clambered off Phil, who was left staring at him in disbelief. "Y'know. That's the cue to come with me." Dan said, looking over he shoulder. Phil immediately got the hint, jumping up off the couch and striding over to join Dan. "You're such an idiot sometimes." Dan laughed and Phil punched his shoulder lightly, before trailing his hand down Dan's arm and interlocking their fingers. They entered the bedroom and Dan pushed him towards the bed, looking at Phil with so much love in his eyes it was almost too much. His hand caressed Phil's cheek, taking in his jawline, cheekbones, the softness of his skin against the back of his hand, everything. He lowered Phil onto the bed, hovering just inches above him.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Admiring it."  
"Admiring what?"  
"You." Dan whispered, causing Phil to blush. His pale cheeks turned pink and Dan leaned down to kiss them. "What is there to admire?" Phil asked, meeting Dan's gaze. Dan stared. Everything. He admired everything. "This." he said, kissing the top of Phil's head. "This." He kissed his nose. "These." he kissed the corner of each eye. "These." He kissed his lips, his neck, his shoulders, his arms, his hands, his fingers, his chest, his stomach, his hips, his legs, his knees, all the way down to his toes. "All of it. I admire all of it. There's nothing about you that isn't admirable."  
"Kiss me." Phil said, his voice soft. Dan obliged, pressing his lips once more to Phil's.

They made love slow that night, taking in every detail as though it were the last time they would ever see each other. Each breath, each word, all of it taken in as though it were the most precious thing in the world, and to them, it was.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil sat, still awake on the bed. It was a ridiculously early hour of the morning, but he couldn't sleep. Dan snored lightly beside him, his chest moving up and down gently with each breath. Phil smiled down at him and brushed his hair from his face. He wasn't sure if he had simply gotten incredibly lucky, or if fate was on his side. Either way he was grateful. He had Dan. The most gorgeous, incredible, perfect human on the planet.

He picked up his phone and logged into twitter. Most of his notifications were people talking about the video, but one caught his eye. It was a screenshot of him and Dan. Dan was laughing, his head tipped back slightly, and the corners of his eyes were crinkled. His eyes themselves were shining. Phil himself was completely focused on Dan. He was smiling too; his tongue poking out like it always did, but they way he was looking at Dan was indescribable. He didn't even know he could look at someone the way he was looking at Dan. He saved the image and replied with 'that's a fantastic screenshot, thank you!' He continued to look at it, unable to look away from Dan's laughing face. He felt like this one picture could make him invincible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of a short and sweet chapter, because I felt like it.  
> I've been running into internet troubles recently, so apologies if that delays updates in the future.  
> I start school again in four days (last year Caity you can do it), so there may not be a new chapter for a little while, but I promise you I shall be working on it :)  
> See you guys next time!


	7. Fired

Dan sipped his hot chocolate. Phil definitely had a knack for making it. "Good?" Phil asked, looking up at him from his position on Dan's lap. Dan nodded and hummed, drinking some more. Phil smiled contentedly and looked back at the TV. They were watching  the third episode of Attack on Titan, after recently having finished Death Note. "They're all pretty intense aren't they." Phil noted casually, as Sasha got yelled at for eating a potato. "Well, they're being attacked by giant, man-eating naked people, what do you expect?" Dan shrugged, leaning over Phil to place his now empty mug on the floor.

He had to admit, that these were his favourite times. When he and Phil were just cuddled up on the couch watching anime, making small talk whenever a topic arose, and making ridiculous anime impressions whenever they deemed it necessary, and sometimes when they didn't, but wanted to change the mood.

Phil unlocked his phone as the episode ended, singing along to the ending theme, not even half as dramatically as he sang along to the intro. "Anything interesting on twitter?" Dan asked, shuffling out from underneath Phil so he could stand and stretch his legs. Phil's head fell back onto the sofa, but he seemed not to notice, absently scrolling through his feed. "A lot of comments on the vlog." He said, scanning his mentions. "Good comments, or bad comments?"  
"Mostly good. Mostly about you actually."  
"Really?" Dan dived to the floor and peered over Phil's shoulder. "Phil you didn't do Dan justice. He's gorgeous asdfghjkl." Dan read the first one he saw with mention of his name. "Are they all like that?"  
"Pretty much." Phil nodded, continuing his scanning. "I told you they would love you."  
"And you were right."  
"Yes I was." Phil smiled smugly, leaning his head back to wink at Dan, who kissed his nose and stood back up. "You want Mexican for dinner?"  
"Do we have Mexican?"  
"I'm pretty sure that's all we have."  
"Oh, well, yes then." Phil shrugged, watching Dan make his way into the kitchen, and wondering in after him. "We should do more videos like that." he suggested, as Dan got the box out of the cupboard. Dan didn't respond. Even after making the previous video and getting nothing but good responses he still wasn't all too comfortable in front of the camera. "I don't know Phil. If we do it too often, then it wouldn't be special."  
"Maybe I could just occasionally upload vlogs on a second channel."  
"Yeah," Dan replied absently, pouring the premade mixture of ingredients into a frying pan, "maybe."

Phil leaned against the counter, watching Dan to cook, which was stupidly attractive. "You okay?" Dan asked, breaking the silence.  
"Yeah, why?"  
"You went silent all of a sudden."  
"I was watching you cook."  
"Why?"  
"Because it's hot." Phil said, lifting up the corner of his lips in a half smile. Dan rolled his eyes, smiling.  
"Instead of admiring my sexy butt, you could wash the dishes. I meant to wash it earlier, and we have no plates left." Dan waved Phil in the direction of the sink, turning back to the food in the pan.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Do you really have to film while I'm working?" Dan asked exasperatedly as he stepped out of the car. Phil nodded, also getting out of the car and joining Dan as he walked up to the restaurant. Dan sighed and straightened his jacket. "Fine. Just don't film too much, okay?"  
"I won't I promise. I'll talk to you when you finish."  
"Yeah." Dan kissed him briefly then entered through the kitchen doors while Phil went through the main entrance. "Danny boy!" Chris greeted, flinging his arms in the air overdramatically, almost knocking over one of the other waiters, who glared at him, steadying the tray of food on his arm and mumbling something about incompetence. Chris ignored him and leaned on Dan's shoulder. "So, how's it with you and Phil?" He asked, dragging out the words.  
"Brilliant. He's here today if you want to not-so-accidentally be his server." Dan replied, brushing Chris off of him. Chris grinned deviously. "I plan on it." He winked, "I want to know all the details."  
"Just be warned, he's filming a YouTube video, so if you don't want to be in it, try and tell him before he's got his camera out."  
"Nah, I'm alright with being on the internet. I'm sure his viewers will all be glad to see my sexy face."  
"I'm sure they will. I've got to go though, so have fun." He pat Chris' shoulder as he left the kitchen.

Taking his place on the piano stool he looked out to see Phil waving at him brightly. It was almost like the first time he had ever laid eyes on Phil. He was the only one in the room paying attention, and the only one who seemed to care as he started playing the piano. But this time was better because Dan knew that as soon as he finished he would get to go and see Phil, and talk to him, and go home with him.

He played the familiar songs, occasionally looking up to see Phil filming him, and then turn the camera around so that he could talk to it. He was earning some funny looks from the other customers and some of the staff, but he didn't seem to care. Dan couldn't make out what he was saying, but he could see Phil giggling and winking in his direction. Dan nodded slightly to acknowledge Phil and his audience, but couldn't let his professionalism drop by waving and smiling. Chris walked behind him carrying a tray and quietly murmured the word 'boss', before carrying on to his table. Dan took a deep breath and sat up straighter, looking determinately at the sheets of music on the stand in front of him. He couldn't risk getting kicked out because he wasn't a good enough pianist.

He finished the piece, stood up and bowed, before heading into the kitchen for his break. His boss was stood with his arms folded, looking agitated. "Daniel, come here." He ordered, and Dan obeyed.  
"Yes sir?"  
"I hear you know that man out there who's filming." He raised an eyebrow. Dan pierced his lips, wondering just which one of the staff had ratted him out. "Yeah, I do." Dan replied, his jaw tight.  
"Well, why didn't you tell him that he couldn't film in here?"  
"Because I didn't know you couldn't. I didn't realise it would be a problem."  
"You didn't realise?"  
"No. Sorry. I can go tell him to leave if you want."  
"No, that's quite alright. I'll tell him myself."  
"No!" Dan blurted out more forcefully than he had intended. He knew Phil got nervous when he was confronted, and he didn't want to leave a nervous Phil on his own outside a restaurant in the cold. "Seriously, sir, I'll tell him to stop filming."  
"I want him out, Daniel, and I would like to do it myself so I know it is done properly."  
"No! He didn't know he was doing anything wrong, there is no need to kick him out!" Dan was starting to get defensive against his better judgement. Chris was standing in the back of the room shaking his head, trying to silently tell Dan to shut up. "Excuse me, but I think you'll find I'm the boss around here."  
"Yes, I realise that, but there is no need to kick someone out when they didn't know they were doing anything wrong."  
"Are you really going to contradict me?"  
"Yes." Dan said stubbornly, but immediately regretted it.  
"Well then. I guess there's nothing left for it. After tonight's performance is finished, so are you."  
"Wait, I'm sorry, please-"  
"Daniel, what I have said is final, and that is that. If you continue to argue with me, I will also go and kick your friend out, is that what you want?"  
"No."  
"Good." His boss frowned down at him, then exited the kitchen. Dan let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding, and Chris walked over to him. "You are such an idiot."  
"Yeah. I know." Dan looked at the floor. How was he going to tell Phil that he had been fired? Phil would ask why, and no matter where he pictured the conversation going, it would inevitably end up with him telling Phil that it had been because of him. He couldn't do that to him, he just couldn't. So he wouldn't tell him, though how he was going to pull that off was another matter.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil greeted him outside the restaurant with a hug. Dan forced a smiled and hugged him back. "You were great, as always."  
"Yeah, thanks." Dan replied, heading towards the car.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine, just tired, thanks." Phil nodded sympathetically, and Dan was suddenly grateful for how easy it was to lie to Phil, even if he did feel awful about it. When the time was right, he would tell him, but for now Phil could remain oblivious. It was for the best, Dan convinced himself as they drove him, Phil babbling on about the food, and what the people around him had been talking about, and other things Dan wasn't quite paying attention to.

When they got home Dan went straight to bed, figuring that it would be better than hanging around Phil  while he felt this terrible. "You going to sleep already?" Phil asked, poking his head around the door. "Yeah." Dan replied, burying his face in the pillow. Phil nodded and began to close the door. "Phil?" Dan asked suddenly.  
"Yeah?"  
"Do me a favour. Please don't upload that video." Dan looked at Phil through the corner of his eye. Phil frowned, looking confused, but he didn't question it, just shut the door behind him, leaving Dan in darkness. "It will be fine," Dan whispered to himself, "It will all work out fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise if this chapter wasn't up to my usual standard, I've been back at school for two days and I'm already drained.  
> Anyway, tension! Changing it up from the cutesy stuff, because I felt like it, and I'm the author, so I can :) I hope you enjoy and I shall see you with the next chapter, whenever that will be.


	8. Truth

The next morning Dan awoke, unsure as to why he was feeling so shitty. It was a Saturday, Phil was snoring gently next to him, and the small sliver of sky he could see through the gap in the curtains looked clear and bright enough, everything was..."Oh. Right." He whispered to himself as the events of last night played in his mind. How was he going to pull this off? Phil usually came to the restaurant with him when he went to work. Maybe he could just go, insist Phil go back home, and hang around for four hours, then meet Phil outside when he came back. That could work, for a while, but not forever. He would eventually have to tell him, but only when he was ready, and only when he had a reason that in no way involved Phil. Dan sighed and turned over to face Phil, who was still asleep next to him. He was so cute. Dan ran his fingers over Phil's pale skin, causing him to stir. "Huh?" He said sleepily, blinking and squinting. Dan managed a small smile. "Sorry Phil, go back to sleep, I didn't mean to wake you." Phil hummed and shuffled closer so his head was resting against Dan's shoulder.  
"I love you." He mumbled, before the quiet snoring started again. Dan kissed the top of his head and looked up at the ceiling. "I love you too." He whispered, even though Phil couldn't hear him.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil woke up a few hours later with the one strip of sunlight glaring directly into his eyes. He threw his arm over his eyes and groaned. He was really not a morning person. "Daaan." He whined, fully expecting him to still be in the bed beside him. No response. "Dan?" He asked, moving his arm and looking around the room. Phil sat up. It was unusual that Dan would be up and about before him, but it had happened before. He was probably making breakfast or something. He could hear a voice coming from the direction of the living room. It sounded like Dan, but who was he talking to at 8 in the morning? Phil stood and padded out into the hallway, trying to listen to what Dan was saying, but he couldn't quite make anything out. He thought he heard his name, and something about his job, but nothing was really clear. As he was got closer he tripped over a laundry basket which had been left in the middle of the hallway. Dan went silent. "Damn it." Phil muttered under his breath, kicking the basket away and walking into the living room. "I'll call you back." Dan said quietly before hanging up the phone and turning to face Phil. He smiled the way he usually would, but something was off. "Who was that?" Phil asked, kissing Dan's cheek before sitting down on the couch.  
"Just Peej." Dan shrugged. "Want some breakfast? We have waffles." Phil's eyes lit up, even though he knew Dan was changing the subject he just could not resist some waffles.

They sat on the sofa in silence, Phil munching contentedly on his breakfast, Dan mostly just watching him. Phil swallowed a large mouthful and looked over at Dan. "Are you okay?" He asked, shuffling over so he was closer to Dan, who gave him possibly the worst fake confused look anyone had ever given him. "I'm fine. Just tired, I guess." Dan shrugged, poking his waffles with his fork. Phil shook his head. "No, don't give me that. I know I'm slow and don't always pick things up, but I'm not stupid, and I would appreciate you not treating me as such." Phil said, much more angrily than he had intended. Dan looked at the floor, shuffling his feet. Phil sighed and picked the plate off Dan's lap, put it on the floor and clambered over so that he was sitting on Dan. He placed his hands either side of Dan's face and smushed his cheeks together. "Look, Dan, I'm sorry. I just know something's up, and I want to be able to help. I'm worried about you. You've gone all quiet ever since last night, and you haven't touched your waffles. I know something happened, I just don't know what." Phil placed a quick kiss on Dan's lips, "Please just let me help." Dan closed his eyes.  
"Okay, but you have to promise not to freak out on me, okay?"  
"Okay, I promise." Phil held out his little finger and gave Dan a half smile. Dan chuckled and linked his finger with Phil's. "You're such a child."  
"And you love me."  
"That's creepy Phil."  
"Stop avoiding the question Dan."  
"Sorry, you're right." Dan took a deep breath, "Last night I got fired from the restaurant."  
"What? Why?" Phil asked, completely confused. Dan's mind raced. He couldn't tell him the real reason, he had to come up with something else, something that wouldn't hurt him. "I got into a fight with the boss." Dan replied.  
"About?"  
 "He was being an asshole to Chris, saying he wasn't doing his job properly or whatever, so I stepped in and we got into a fight and I got fired." Dan shrugged, hoping that there were no obvious plot holes in his story. Phil frowned for a second, seemingly thinking it over, but then he sighed. "That guy is an asshole. I never liked him."  
"So, you're okay with me being fired?"  
"I'm not not okay with it." Phil replied, "You had reason, and you did what you thought necessary. Fine by me." Phil gave him a 'what can you do' smile, and Dan smiled back, relieved that he would now probably never have to tell Phil the truth. "I love you." Dan said, leaning up to kiss him. Phil didn't quite know what he had done, but whatever it was seemed to have been good, so he didn't complain, he just kissed back, his fingers gently combing through Dan's hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG GUESS WHO'S BACK GUYS! I'm so sorry for being away for so long, but I figured I should at least try this year, as it is my final year of school.  
> I'm sorry this is so short, and probably rather terrible, but I figured I should post something to mark the end of my term hiatus, and also give some closure on the cliffhanger that I didn't mean to leave you with for 6 weeks. I'll continue to work on the next chapter.  
> Sorry again, and I hope you enjoy!


	9. Tease

"Hey Phil?" Dan called from his browsing position on the couch, scrolling through numerous tumblr posts. "Yeah?" Phil called back, poking his head around the bedroom door.  
"Can I borrow your camera?"  
"Um," Phil paused, somewhat confused, "Sure, but why?"  
"I was thinking of starting my own YouTube channel." Dan said, not looking up from his screen, chuckling quietly at a gif of a cat. Phil stepped out of the room, still frowning. He had never really thought that Dan would want to make his own videos. It had taken long enough to convince him to be in one of his videos, and even though he had loved it in the end, it had never crossed his mind that Dan might want to make his own. "Again, sure, but why?" He asked, sitting down on the couch next to Dan, who immediately took up his position leaning against Phil's side. "Because it was fun, and the your subscribers seemed to like me. Also, why not?" He asked, leaning his head backwards and slightly to the side so he could see Phil's face. Phil thought about it for a second, then shrugged. "Touché. When were you planning to start?"  
"Today, I think. I mean, I have nothing better to do. As long as you're okay with it of course." Dan gave Phil the best puppy dog eyes he could manage what with his awkward position. Phil rolled his eyes and kissed Dan's forehead. "You really don't have to make those eyes at me Daniel, I wouldn't have said no."  
"It was just for added effect."  
"Idiot." Phil giggled and poked his nose, making Dan scrunch up his face slightly, which Phil found completely adorable. "Come on then, let's get you set up." Phil made to get up but Dan groaned and threw himself over Phil's lap, effectively stopping him from going anywhere. "What?"  
"I don't wanna get up!"  
"Dan, this was your idea!"  
"I know, but that doesn't mean I want to move. You're comfy."  
"I do try. But if you want to start making videos, you have to film early, or else the lighting will be all wrong and you'll be editing until 5 in the morning." Phil raised his eyebrows when Dan pouted, their eyes locked in an intense battle of wits, until Dan gave in, groaning and rolling himself off the couch. "You owe me." He grumbled, shuffling into the hallway.  
"Your idea!" Phil called after him, pulling himself off the couch and following the sound of Dan's grumbling.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan smiled cheesily at the camera, giving it a final wave and a cheery "Goodbye internet, see you next time." He collapsed sideways onto the bed as Phil pressed the stop button on the camera. "See, that wasn't too bad." He said, sitting down on the floor in front of Dan's face. Half of Dan's face was buried in bed sheets, so the mock glare he gave Phil lost most of it's worth. "You never told me how hard it is to film a video. You lied to me."  
"I never said it was easy. Plus, it was only your first video, it'll get easier once you know what you're doing and have a set type of video." Phil smiled at him reassuringly. Dan sighed and turned on to his back, holding out his arms for Phil to join him, which he did with no hesitation. They lay in silence for a little while, perfectly content with each other's company. Phil buried his nose into Dan's shoulder, breathing in deeply. "I love you." He whispered, not sure if Dan could hear him. Dan didn't respond for a little while, his eyes closed, one arm wrapped around Phil's waist and the other slowly moving to cup the back of Phil's head. "I love you too." He replied eventually, kissing the top of Phil's head. Phil tilted his head back to capture Dan's lips gently with his own, the soft skin moving together slowly. Dan's tongue brushed Phil's upper lip and Phil smiled softly, nibbling at Dan's lower lip in response. He moved so that he was on top of Dan, straddling his waist, both of his arms curling around Dan's neck. He pulled away from the kiss ever so slightly and examined Dan's face. From this close he could see the tiny freckles that were spread over Dan's nose, the way the brown in his eyes looked almost as if it was melting, and the way the crinkles in the corners of his eyes became a little more pronounced when he opened his eyes to look at Phil. "You okay?" He asked, his breath hitting Phil's skin in a warm blast. Phil nodded. "You're beautiful." He whispered, watching as Dan's cheeks turned ever so slightly pink. Dan closed the small gap between them once more, pressing his lips to Phil's a little harder than last time, and holding him a little tighter. He wasn't very good at accepting compliments, and he felt as though if he just responded with 'so are you', it would sound meaningless, no matter how much he actually meant it, so instead he showed him; running his fingers down Phil's spine and feeling him shiver.

Suddenly Phil sat up and climbed off the bed. Dan stared as Phil began to pack up the camera. "What are you doing?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbows.  
"You have  editing to do." Phil replied, hiding the slight smirk that had slipped onto his face. Dan's jaw dropped. "You cannot be serious right now."  
"Oh I am very serious. If you're good and finish it before tomorrow, I might order pizza."  
"No fair! You get me all worked up and your consolation is pizza?!"  
"Yup. And I'd get a move on if I were you. It's going to take you a while to figure it all out." Phil put the tripod away and ejecting the SD card from the camera. Dan collapsed back onto the bed. "You're the absolute worst, do you know that?"  
"Oh I know. Now come on." He leaned against the door frame and Dan let out a half sob before heaving himself off the bed. "Is this what it's going to be like now that I don't have a job?" he asked grumpily as he stomped past Phil.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Phil replied, feigning innocence. Dan groaned again.  
"You suck."

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil sat in the living room impatiently waiting for Dan to get to a point where he was almost finished. He knew what he had done was a little bit cruel, and he knew that it was his own fault that he himself was worked up, but the idea had struck him, and he had for some reason started it, and so he now just had to go along with it and finish it.

He could hear Dan's annoyed remarks through the walls and debated whether or not he should go and see what was wrong. After all, he had left Dan alone with only the basic editing knowledge, and a distracted mind. However, if he went in there, Dan would become even more distracted, and therefore wouldn't finish editing, and then the both of them would remain horny for probably the rest of the night. Phil closed his eyes, deciding that it was probably better to risk the distraction than have Dan break something out of frustration. He got up and made his way to the study and knocked on the door before entering. Dan was sitting in the office chair on the opposite side of the room to the computer, his arms folded, and his bottom lip sticking out in an annoyed pout. Phil glanced at the screen and saw, quite to his surprise, that Dan was actually a decent way through already. "What's the matter?" He asked, turning back to look at Dan, who was now watching him closely.  
"Nothing specifically." He said, getting up and moving over to Phil, pressing himself against him. He wrapped his arms around Phil's neck and looked at him through his eyelashes. Phil would be lying if he said that he wasn't tempted, but he turned away and dragged the chair back over. "Nu-uh, come on Dan. You're almost finished." Dan plopped back into the chair with a whine. "At least stay?"  
"Fine." Phil nodded perching himself on the table next to the monitor.

He watched Dan progress surprisingly quickly, giving him advice here and there and trying to ignore Dan's blatant attempts at seduction. Eventually Dan got to the point where he would be finished in 5 minutes tops, and he was finally in the zone, concentrating solely on editing. Phil slid down off the table and moved behind Dan's chair, leaning forward so his breath tickled Dan's skin, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. "Phil..." Dan muttered, trying to concentrate.  
"Mmm?" Phil hummed back, brushing his lips against him, making Dan shiver.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Showing love and appreciation for my boyfriend." Phil replied, choosing a spot and kissing it more firmly. "You could have done that an hour ago." Dan mumbled, and Phil responded by sucking on a small patch of skin, making Dan groan. "Phil, please? 5 minutes, then I'm all yours."  
"So no kissing?"  
"Oh quit acting innocent. You know how it works with my neck."  
"Okay, so I can't do this?" Phil licked the small red mark on his neck he had made just before. Dan shivered again, then shook his head defiantly. "No."  
"Or this?" Phil gently nibbled at the skin and Dan closed his eyes, trying to focus.  
"No, Phil."  
"Not even this?" He ran his teeth over the small vein in the side of Dan's neck - the weakest link. Dan clenched his hands. "Dammit Phil!" He spun around, taking Phil by surprise and kissing him hard. His fingers tangled in Phil's hair, pulling him down to his level. "God I hate you." He whispered, fingers sliding down to the hem of Phil's shirt. "Not what your body language is saying." Phil pointed out, allowing Dan to slide the shirt up over his head. "Shut up." Dan growled, tossing the shirt somewhere out of the way and pulling Phil down onto his lap. "Fuck you're gorgeous." He trailed his fingers down Phil's chest, his nails leaving faint, pink lines on the pale skin. "You flatter me." Phil whispered, leaning down to kiss him again.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

There were more items of clothing strewn across the floor than there was on both Dan and Phil put together. One sock remained on Phil's left foot, and Dan's shirt could hardly be considered 'on'. The chair had long since been pushed to the side and they both lay on the floor, hands frantically exploring everywhere they could reach as though it was the last day either of them had on earth.

Phil sat straddled across Dan's hips, grinding down, and practically inhaling the noises Dan was making. He could live off of those noises alone he was sure of it. Dan's hips acted of their own accord, lifting themselves up as Phil pushed down. He groaned loudly against Phil's lips unabashedly, long since past holding back. Phil's dick gave yet another twitch against Dan's abdomen, each noise sending another rush of blood southwards. "Phil?" Dan panted, biting Phil's lips.  
"Yeah?"  
"Fuck me?" Dan asked, sounding as innocent as it was possible to seem in this situation, and it somehow turned Phil on even more. He closed his eyes for a second, taking a shuddering breath. "Jesus Christ Daniel."  
"Is that a yes?"  
"God yes." Phil kissed Dan deeply. "I have to go grab a condom." He whispered and Dan nodded. Phil stood quickly and left the room as fast as he could without running.

He rifled through the draw in which they were kept, quickly grasping one and rushing back. He opened the door and his knees went weak. Dan lay on the floor with his legs spread, head tilted back, eyes shut, mouth open, and two fingers slowly thrusting in and out of his ass. Phil gulped and his hand jumped straight to his dick, stroking it firmly. "Phil..." Dan moaned. Phil wasn't sure if Dan actually knew he was there or not, but either way it made him jump into action. He positioned himself in front of Dan and placed his hand over Dan's, pulling it away. He went to go replace Dan's fingers with his own but Dan shook his head. "Just do it."  
"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you."  
"I'm sure. Please Phil." Dan opened his eyes to look at Phil pleadingly. Phil nodded, positioning himself at Dan's entrance and slowly pushing in. Dan gasped, squeezing his eyes shut. Phil leaned over and kissed him, attempting to distract him slightly as he slowly went deeper. His hips stuttered as he moved, threatening to thrust all the way in far too quickly. Phil groaned as he finally made it as deep as he could go. The warmth and tightness of Dan was almost too much for him, making it impossibly difficult to remain still. "Dan...?" He whispered, and Dan nodded.  
"Move." He said, and Phil might have questioned it if he weren't already too far gone. He pulled out until only the tip was left in before thrusting back in. He held his breath as he did so, knowing already that he wouldn't last all that long. He looked down at Dan, gauging his expressions.

The tearing pain had quickly subsided, and now all Dan could feel was the immeasurable pleasure. His fingers attempted to grasp at the carpet. Phil changed his angle, trying to find Dan's - Dan cried out, his hands flying to Phil's back, nails scratching at his skin. Phil smiled slightly, pounding Dan's prostate mercilessly. Dan could feel himself teetering right on the edge, but unable to quite make it. "Phil!" He almost sobbed, moving his hips back to meet Phil's.  
"Mmm?"  
"Touch me."  
"Why would I want to do that?" He asked, circling his hips, teasing Dan's prostate.  
"Because if you don't I'll die, and if I don't die, I'll kill you." Dan growled. Phil chuckled and leaned down to kiss him deeply. His hand moved to Dan's dick and stroked it in time with his thrusts. He could feel himself getting closer and closer, and he could tell Dan was in the same place he was. Dan clenched tightly around him every other second. "Phil-" Dan warned, clasping at Phil's shoulder. Phil gave one last firm stroke and Dan's vision went white. His entire body tensed and Phil's hand was covered in warm liquid, but he hardly noticed, his hips jutted forward, waves of pleasure washing over him one after the other. His head fell forward onto Dan's stomach.

They lay there in silence for a while, the only noises were that of their breathing. Phil slid sideways and lay beside Dan, one leg resting over Dan's, and his head on his shoulder. Dan buried his nose in Phil's hair. "I love you Phil." Dan whispered, making Phil smile.  
"I love you too."

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Done!" Dan exclaimed, rolling backwards on the chair with his arms waving above his head. Phil chuckled and kissed Dan's cheek. "Good job. First video over and done with. Now you gotta do that again next week."  
"Well," Dan shrugged, "If it's like it was this week, then I do not mind in the slightest."  
"So my plan worked then!"  
"Oh fuck off. That was so not your plan."  
"Of course it was! I planned to make you want to make videos every week."  
"Nope. I think you just planned to distract me and have sex."  
"Either way I win."  
"You're an idiot."  
"You love me."  
"You're an idiot."  
"But you still love me."  
"Of course I do." Dan stood up and hugged Phil tightly. "I love you a lot. But you're still an idiot." Phil hugged him back, smiling broadly. He didn't think he could ever get over how much he loved Dan, or how lucky he was that Dan loved him back. "Come on. Let's go to bed. It's late." Dan said, taking Phil's hand and leading him back into the bedroom.

They both collapsed onto the bed, suddenly aware of how tired they actually were. Phil turned on to his side and snuggled up against Dan. Dan lifted his phone, logged in to Twitter and quickly typed 'Hey guys, I just posted my first video! Please go and check it out. I'll reply to comments tomorrow. Love you <3'. Before he had even locked his phone he already had 40 favourites. "Fans are crazy." he said quietly, smiling brightly despite himself. Phil mumbled something inaudible into his side and Dan sunk down into the warmth of the bed sheets, letting sleep quickly wash over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cringes at my attempt at smut*  
> Hey look! An actual chapter! I've pretty much been slowly working at this chapter all term, so I hope you enjoy it.  
> I only have 2 exams next week and then it's the end of the term, so there should be at least 2 chapters out on time.  
> Thank you guys for all the support and understanding you guys have shown me, I really appreciate it. I love you all very much <3  
> See you next time!


	10. Fight

'I have to admit,' Dan thought to himself as he tore apart the cupboard looking for the tripod, 'this is not half as good as it used to be.' He sighed in exasperation as he gave up on his hope of finding it in the place it was supposed to be. He had been jobless for 3 months, and his job had really been the only reason he had for leaving the house. Without it, he and Phil were in each other's company 24/7, and it was starting to drive them both insane. "Phil! I really wish you'd put things back where they're supposed to go!" He shouted in no particular direction.  
"What are you on about now?" Phil groaned, appearing from their room.  
"Where did you put the tripod?"  
"It's still in our room."  
"And why is it still there?"  
"Because I was using it, and haven't put it back yet."  
"Maybe you should start doing that." Dan pushed past Phil into the room.  
"Maybe you should start paying attention to your surroundings. It's been there since last night, you should have seen it this morning!"  
"I'm going to start filming now. Please leave so I can do so."  
"Fine!" Phil stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Dan sighed and collapsed onto the bed. He hated fighting with Phil, he really did, but he also wanted a break. Some time in a place where Phil wasn't always 10 feet away. He made a mental note to discuss it with Phil later, when they weren't both so heated. He took a deep breath and leaned over to switch on the camera.  
"Hello internet!" He greeted in his usual manner, smiling and waving cheerily at the camera.

It only took an hour to get halfway through the filming of the video. His mind kept wandering onto Phil, thinking about how much of a shit boyfriend he had been recently. Phil hadn't really done anything wrong, Dan was just being a dick for no real reason. "I give up." He muttered, pressing the stop button on the camera for what felt like the billionth time. "Sorry internet. Video's going to be late. Again." He said to himself, storing the camera away. "Phil?" He called, making his way in to the living room. No response. "Phil, please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." Again. Nothing. Dan walked around the house, checking all of the rooms. No sign of Phil. He'd probably gone out. Probably for the best too. Dan went back to the living room and fell onto the couch. He switched on the TV and flicked through the channels, looking for something that looked at least mildly interesting, but found nothing. He leaned back on the sofa and shut his eyes, deciding that if he couldn't watch TV, he may as well take a nap.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil opened the front door as quietly as he could. If Dan was asleep he didn't want to wake him. He knew that Dan had just been getting stressed with the constant company, and he knew that he hadn't meant to yell at him, but it still hurt. He shut the door gently and shrugged his coat off his shoulders. "Dan?" He called quietly, making his way into the living room. Dan was leaning back awkwardly on the couch, his head tilted back and his mouth was hanging open, a slight bit of drool dribbling down his chin. Phil muffled a giggle. Dan somehow managed to make even the most unattractive positions look cute. He sat himself down gently beside Dan. "Dan." He whispered, gently shaking Dan's shoulder. Dan sniffed and grumbled something. "Dan come on, you're going to hurt your neck like that."  
"Phil?" He croaked, turning his head to the side and blinking at Phil. "Phil, I'm sorry." He whispered, shuffling down so that he was resting on Phil's lap. "I didn't mean to yell at you." Phil looked down at him with a small smile on his face. "I know you didn't Dan." He paused, "I was thinking, while I was out, maybe you could start a course at university. Then we wouldn't always be together, but we wouldn't be away from each other long enough to drift apart or something." He said it all quickly, not wanting to upset him. Dan stayed quiet for a while, then muttered "I'll think about it. Let's go to bed." He stood up and began to sleepily walk down the hall. Phil frowned. Why was Dan reluctant to go to university? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and shook his head. He was ask Dan about it later. He stood and went to go join Dan.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They both lay in silence, Dan curled up against Phil's chest, and Phil's arm draped over Dan; the way they would usually be, but this silence was tense. Neither of them wanted to talk, in fear of accidentally angering the other, so they just lay there. Phil heard the soft snore that indicated Dan was asleep. "I love you." He whispered, wishing he could have said it while Dan was awake, because for some reason, he really needed to hear it said back. He turned onto his side so that he was facing Dan. Dan's face was so much more at peace than he had seen it in quite some time. His mouth was slightly open, and his nose would scrunch up every so often. "What are you dreaming about love?" He whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from Dan's mouth. Dan snuffled and moved his arm up slightly. "Sorry." Phil apologised, turning onto his back again. He even managed to screw things up when Dan was asleep. Impressive if he did say so himself. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Dan, and yet somehow he was making Dan more stressed and irritated than he had ever seen him, and that was including the time his mother had kept him captive in his own room. He rubbed his eyes and looked back over at Dan, who was still snoring quietly. He kissed Dan's head gently and rolled out of the bed.

He grabbed his coat, threw it over his shoulders, and placed his earphones in his ears. He pressed play on whatever song was currently playing, and walked out of the front door. He walked with his head down, letting his thoughts roam free in his mind. He didn't pay attention to where he was walking, just letting his feet take him through the streets of Manchester on auto-pilot. He wrapped his coat tighter around him, but didn't think to put his arms in the sleeves. He didn't realise he was crying until he felt a warm drop of water hit his arm. He stopped still in the middle of the path. His eyes were wide and tears slowly slipped down his cheeks. His shoulders shuddered and suddenly he was sobbing. He crouched on the floor, hugging his knees and crying loudly into his arms. It was too early in the morning for anyone to see him in the middle of the street, and Phil was grateful. He didn't want anyone talking to him. He didn't want to have to admit to anyone else that he was screwing things up. He barely even wanted to admit it to himself, but the evidence was right in front of his him. He and Dan had barely spoken all week, and most of what they did say to each other was said in fights. All because he managed to screw up every single thing that he did. He took a deep shuddering breath to calm himself down. He didn't screw everything up. All couples had their down periods. He and Dan were both just stressed. Everything was okay, or at least, everything was going to be okay. They would work through it. Of course they would. What they had was like ivory, the outside may get charred, but the inside would stay in tact. "Leave it to you to make an animal comparison out of this Phil." He muttered to himself, standing up and slipping his arms into the sleeves of his coat. He took one more deep breath and turned to head back home. 

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan awoke to the smell of cooking. He yawned and stretched, preparing himself to wonder into the kitchen and find out what Phil was making, but to his surprise, the smell was already coming to him. Phil appeared at the door holding a plate of bacon, eggs, and waffles. "Morning Dan." Phil greeted him with a smile, handing Dan the plate of food. Dan took it, tilting his head and giving Phil a confused look. Phil chuckled. "I just wanted to make it up to you for causing that fight yesterday." He explained, sitting down on the bed next to him. Dan smiled and picked up the fork. "You didn't have to. It was half my fault anyway. But thank you Phil." He kissed Phil's cheek and began to eat, occasionally offering some of it to Phil. "Hey Phil?" Dan said once he had finished eating and placed the plate on the bedside table. "Yeah?"  
"I love you. Remember that, okay?" Dan looked at Phil earnestly, and Phil nodded.  
"I know." He kissed Dan softly. "Now go wash that up." He gestured to the plate. Dan's mouth fell open comically. "Seriously?"  
"Yup. I made it, you can wash it up." He stuck his tongue out as Dan grumpily got out of the bed. He watched Dan disappear through the door and grinned to himself. Dan wasn't mad at him, and he hadn't messed everything up! This was- "PHIL WHY DO YOU NEVER SHUT THE CUPBOARD DOORS?" Phil's face fell. Dan appeared at the door again with a large cut on his forehead. He pointed to it angrily. "See what happens when you don't adhere to the basic laws of household living?"  
"Dan, I'm sorry, I-" He went to get up but Dan shook his head.  
"No! Don't! You need to learn how to put stuff back the way you found it!"  
"Dan-"  
"Yesterday it was the tripod, the day before it was the TV remote, the day before that it was the keys, and now I've been hurt because you can't remember to shut a fucking cupboard door!"  
"I'm sorry, okay?!" Phil yelled back, standing up so that he was eye level with Dan. "Maybe I'm not the tidiest person in the world, maybe I forget to put things back sometimes-"  
"Sometimes? Sometimes! Always Phil, always! You always forget to put things back-"  
"You aren't perfect either Daniel!"  
"I never said I was, but at least my imperfections don't cause injuries!"  
"No, but they cause arguments! Like right now, for instance! You're obsession with keeping things tidy is just-"  
"I do not have an obsession with keeping things tidy! I just like to have things in a place so I can find them again and nobody gets hurt!"  
"Maybe you should live on your own then! Get a dorm at university!"  
"Maybe if you hadn't gotten me fired we wouldn't be having this problem in the first place!" Dan faltered as he realised what he just said. Phil stared. "I- What?"  
"Um, never mind, just, make sure you shut doors next time, okay?" Dan looked at the floor and turned around, but Phil stopped him. "Dan, what do you mean?"  
"Nothing. I just got fired up."  
"No, Dan, tell me."  
"Alright, fine. The boss was going to kick you out for filming, I defended you, and I got fired for being rude. Happy now?"  
"No. No I'm not. Why didn't you just tell me?"  
"Because I didn't want you to get hurt."  
"Yeah, but now you're hurt." Phil pointed at Dan's head.  
"And that was your fault."  
"Please don't start again." Phil pleaded and Dan glared.  
"Clean up after yourself then!"  
"I'm not fighting with you. I'm going to stay with Pj."  
"Oh yeah, go and stay with my best friend." Dan shouted after him as Phil walked away, grabbing his coat and slamming the door behind him.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil knocked on Pj's door, shifting his weight from left to right. Pj opened the door and frowned, but opened the door and invited him in. "Everything okay?" He asked, as Phil shrugged off his coat.  
"I guess so. Me and Dan got in a fight."  
"What about?"  
"My disorganisation-ness."  
"You guys spending too much time together huh?"  
"Something like that." Phil nodded, following Pj down the hall and into his living room. Pj's house was very modern arty. Bright colours everywhere and strange, abstract objects were scattered about. Pj sat down and patted the spot next to him. Phil took it and leaned back, closing his eyes. "Maybe you should think about getting a bigger place?"  
"What good would that do?"  
"Well, you wouldn't be in quite so close proximity to each other, and I doubt either of you really want to move out." Pj shrugged, "But it's up to you man, it's your money."  
"Yeah." Phil said, thinking it over. It didn't seem like such a bad idea. They did have the money for it, and it would lower the amount of arguments they would have, which was definitely not a bad thing. He would have to discuss it with Dan, but he didn't see why he wouldn't agree to it. "I'll talk to Dan about it tomorrow, which reminds me; mind if I stay the night? I think Dan and I both need some space."  
"Of course. I'll find you some pyjamas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A full length chapter, omg!  
> Quite a bit of tension between our protagonists in this one, not sure if I portrayed it very well, but all in all I'm quite happy with this chapter. Good ol' Peej knows what to do.  
> Hope you enjoy it!


	11. Forgive

PHIL: Hey Dan, just wanted to say sorry for storming out. I think we need to figure some things out later. I still stand by what I said; I love you <3 See you later.

Dan read over the message countless times. What was it Phil wanted to talk about? Did he want Dan to find his own place? Did he want to break up? No, surely that wasn't it. He took a deep breath and typed his response.

ME: I'm sorry for snapping at you. Do you know when you'll be coming home? Miss you. <3

PHIL: What are you still doing up at 3am? Go to sleep doofus. Probably after breakfast.

ME: I can't. The bed's cold. And much bigger than I remember it being... And you're awake too!!

PHIL: You're an idiot :P

ME: I love you.

PHIL: I love you too. Try and get some sleep, okay? We'll talk more tomorrow.  
ME: Alright. Goodnight.

PHIL: Good night xx

Dan locked his phone and placed it on the bedside table. He hadn't been lying before. The bed really was too cold without Phil in it. He had tossed and turned for at least an hour before Phil had texted him, and he had spent at least another 2 hours running over what he had said in his mind. "Hot chocolate." He said to himself, sitting up and shuffling out of the bed. Phil would usually make the hot chocolate for the both of them, even when it was only Dan who wanted it. Phil always somehow made it better. He hummed 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' as he poured milk into the mug and placed it in the microwave. "Two minutes? Or four?" He pondered aloud, looking at the buttons, before shrugging and punching in 4 minutes. Dan looked around the kitchen for some way to amuse himself while he waited, not sure what Phil usually did while the drinks were warming up. He sat down, stood back up, paced a bit, then went to go grab his phone. How did four minutes seem to take so long? He sat back down with his phone and scrolled through his twitter feed, replying to a few fans and stalking Matt Bellamy's twitter. Ding! "Yay!" Dan exclaimed, slightly too enthusiastically for a grown man reacting to hot chocolate being finished. He opened the microwave door and groaned. "Can't even do this right huh Dan?"

ME: I have come to the conclusion that my life is literally a mess without you. I can't even make hot chocolate. I neeeeed you!

He attached a picture of the mess of chocolate milk all over the inside of the microwave.

ME: Come home soon okay?

He put his phone on the side and grabbed a cloth to clean the mess.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Phil woke to a bright light streaming directly into his eyes. "Daaan," He groaned automatically, "Close the blinds."  
"Well,' replied a voice that was most definitely not Dan, making Phil start, "I would, but I don't have any. Plus, I'm not your boyfriend."  
"Right. Sorry Peej." Phil said, flopping his arm over his face.  
"It's cool. Your phone was going off earlier by the way. I think Dan needs you. Whiney bastard." He winked at Phil and hopped out of the bed. "Breakfast?"  
"Sure. Thanks." Phil flapped his arm out, finding his glasses and his phone. 12 new messages from Dan. What had happened to going to sleep?

DAN: I have come to the conclusion that my life is literally a mess without you. I can't even make hot chocolate. I neeeeed you!

He opened the attached picture and laughed. "Oh my god Daniel! How do you even-?"

DAN: Come home soon okay?

DAN: I know this is going to sound clingy, but I really do miss you, and I really am sorry.

DAN: I can be a dick sometimes, but you are honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'm not just saying that because I can't sleep and I need you to make hot chocolate for me, I genuinely mean it.

DAN: I love you Philip Lester.

Phil's eyes got a little teary.

DAN: Friends is on.  I wish you were here to watch it with me

DAN: It's the one with the jumper

DAN: As if it were anyone other than Ross

DAN: Who do you think I'm most like?

DAN: I think I'm Chandler.

DAN: Because I'm funny and will definitely end up with Courteney Cox

Phil stifled another laugh.

ME: Nah. You're more Monica. Control freak. :P

ME: I'm on my way home now.

He stripped quickly and awkwardly pulled on his jeans and shirt. He ran out of the room and passed Pj in the hall, who was carrying two bowls of cereal. "You're in a hurry." He observed, watching Phil swing the front door open.  
"Need to see Dan." He panted, knowing he sounded like a complete idiot, but who could blame him. He stopped for a second and turned around to look at Pj. "Thank you."  
"No prob-" Pj started to say, but before he could even finish, Phil was gone, and the door was slamming shut behind him. Pj smiled to himself and looked down at the bowls in his hands. "Eh, two breakfasts. Why not?"

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan jumped when he heard the front door open and saw Phil burst through it. His face was red and he was out of breath. "Did you...run all the way here?" He asked, shocked. Phil opened his mouth to reply, but seemed only to be able to gasp. Dan laughed and walked over to help him out. "You're an idiot." He said, wrapped Phil's arm around his neck and practically carrying him over to the couch. "Why did you run? I wasn't expecting you home for another hour or so."  
"I needed to see you." Phil said, finally managing to make audible sounds instead of just raspy breathing. Dan tilted his head. "Dan, I'm sorry, I know I make a mess everywhere, and I know you ask me time and time again to put things back where they belong and I seem to not listen, and I really am very sorry, and I was talking to Pj about it and he said that maybe it's because the apartment is too small and we need more individual room, so I was thinking, maybe we could get a bigger apartment and formerly move in together." He spurted it all out very quickly, as though ripping off a Band-Aid, though Dan wasn't entirely certain why. "I think that's a great idea."  
"Really?" Phil asked, sounding genuinely surprised.  
"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?"  
"I don't know. I thought you might get touchy over the whole money thing."  
"Nope. We've got enough for a bigger place."  
"Oh. Well. Okay then."  
"So you really didn't have to kill yourself running here." Dan said, sticking out his tongue.  
"Oh, but I did." Phil said, darting forward and capturing Dan in a kiss. Dan's cheeks flushed warm and he smiled. He was so very in love with this man. "Ever the romantic." Dan teased, his face still a faint red. "You love it."  
"Incorrect." Dan said, poking Phil's nose when he looked confused, "I love you."  
"I love you too." Phil replied, sticking his tongue out ever so slightly to the side of his smile. "Right, now lets go find apartments to look at." He took Dan's hand and pulled him into the living room.

They sat down on the couch in unison, opened Dan's laptop, then looked at each other. "First things first, where should we live?" Phil asked, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Dan pondered the question for a couple of seconds. "London?"  
"London. Okay." He typed 'london apartment' into the search bar and started to scroll through the results. "You know, you'll probably get better results if you actually look for something on an actual property website."  
"Good point...I don't know any."  
"Oh my god. How did you ever get this place? Gimme that." Dan grabbed his laptop from Phil's lap. Phil pouted and Dan laughed. "Don't give me that face." Phil stuck his bottom lip out further, and Dan raised his eyebrow. Phil held his face for a good five seconds before he started giggling. "I win." Dan said, looking back at the laptop, which was now showing images of some of the apartments they should consider. "I hate you." Phil said, still giggling.  
"Love you too." Dan said, scrolling through the options and opening some of them in different tabs. Phil fell sideways so his head was resting in the small gap between the computer and Dan's stomach. "I'm just going to do all the searching here then am I?"  
"Yup. I'm tired." Phil replied, performing a well-timed yawn and curling onto his side. Dan smiled in spite of himself and opened up one more option they could look at, making a grand total of 6. He looked down at the man in his lap, up at the screen, then back down at Phil. "Come on you." He said, shaking Phil's shoulder gently. "Lets go to bed."  
"You mean that like sleep, right? Because, I love you, but I doubt my sex would be too great right now." Phil said, looking genuinely concerned.  
"Yes, I mean bed like sleep you goose."  
"Oh good. Lets go then." He sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily, then got up and held out his hand. Dan put the laptop to the side and took his hand.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very sorry about how long this took to put up! I had a lot of shit going on lately, which I won't disclose here, but it stopped me from being able to write and post, so this chapter is a little short, but I think it's pretty good.  
> If you're still with me, thank you so much for your patience with this, I greatly appreciate it, and I promise you that it will get finished.  
> Enjoy :)


	12. Wrong

"Come on Dan!" Phil shouted from the kitchen, "We're already going to be late! And we still need to get to the station!"  
"I'm coming! Calm your tits!" Dan muttered, slouching into the kitchen from their bedroom, his hair a mess and his jacket on crooked. Phil looked over at his boyfriend and let out a small laugh. "I told you it was a mistake to book for 11 in the morning." he said, walking over to Dan and pulling him into a hug.  
"Yeah, yeah, shut up. Where's my coffee?"  
"In the travel mug." Phil replied, pointing to the mug on the counter. Dan smiled and kissed Phil's cheek.  
"You're the best."  
"I know. Now, let's go!" He said, grabbing the mug and placing it in Dan's out-stretched hands, then pulling him out of the apartment.

Dan sipped slowly at his coffee as they waited for the bus. "Remind me why you couldn't drive us to the station?" Dan asked as Phil bounced up and down on his toes impatiently.  
"Because I don't like leaving my car in the car park of a train station for long periods of time."  
"And why couldn't we take a taxi?"  
"Because..." Phil paused, thinking about it, "Because I didn't think of it." He admitted, letting out a huff of air. Dan smiled and leaned over to kiss Phil's cheek. "Calm down, okay Phil? We'll get there on time. I promise. And we can always call and say we got held up if we really need to. They want our business, they're not going to turn us down, okay?" Phil looked over at Dan, took a deep breath, and nodded.  
"Okay. I still wish the bus would hurry up though. It's cold." He said, cupping his hands around his mouth and nose. Dan leaned his head on Phil's shoulder, not really bothered much by the cold, but bothered by how worked up Phil was obviously getting. He knew Phil didn't like being late, and especially not the social conflict that came with such situations. Not that he was a particularly big fan of conflict, or socialising, himself, but he seemed to handle it better than Phil did - for the most part anyway. He felt Phil reach for his hand and Dan took it, giving it a comforting squeeze. "It should be coming right about now." Phil muttered to himself, looking around for the bus. He heard it before he saw it. The large red vehicle pulled up in front of them and Phil practically ran to it, jumping up the stairs and throwing the money at the driver. Dan chuckled, following Phil onto the bus and apologising to the bewildered looking driver.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 They arrived at the first apartment, only just on time. "See," Dan said, rubbing Phil's shoulder, "I told you we'd get here on time."  
"Shush." Phil said, sticking out his tongue. A lady in a black suit was waiting on a bench out the front of the building. They approached her and she smiled at them far too broadly to be comfortable. "Good morning." She greeted, holding out her hand. Dan took it first, shaking it. "Morning. Sorry if we kept you waiting."  
"Not at all." She said, still smiling and taking Phil's hand. "Had a good day so far?" She asked, leading them inside the building. "Hectic." Dan replied, "I woke up a little late, and so Phil was freaking out about being late, and then the bus wasn't on time, and the trains got held up. It was fun." He said, looking over at Phil who was mock glaring at him.  
"Where're you coming from?"  
"Manchester." Phil responded, finally taking part in the conversation.  
"That's a way out. What brings you here?"  
"Well, our old apartment was too small for the both of us, and we both wanted a change of scenery."  
"Are you two related? Or just flat-shareres?" She asked, pressing the button for the elevator, not realising how awkward she had just made the two boys. Dan opened his mouth but Phil got their first. "Close friends. We've known each other for a while." He said quickly, avoiding Dan's look of confusion.  
"Aw, that's sweet." the lady responded, still unaware of the tension just caused behind her. "Oh, I forgot, I'm June. It's nice to meet you both."  
"Nice to meet you too June, thank you for showing us around today. I'm Phil." Phil said, still not looking at Dan.  
"Dan." Dan introduced himself, but still frowning at Phil. Why had he responded like that? He knew that it was never easy to say you're in a gay relationship, especially to someone you'd just met, but friends? Really? This was 2012! Did anybody still actually care about that sort of thing?

The elevator shuddered to a halt, the doors opened and they stepped inside. "So, the apartment we'll be seeing is quite spacious, but cosy at the same, if you see what I mean." June rambled her obviously memorised script. "Definitely enough room for two people to live comfortably, and definitely within your budget." She said with a smile as the elevator doors opened. "Here we are." The three of them stepped out of the elevator and followed June to the door. She unlocked it and let the boys in first. "If you two would like to have a look around before I begin with the boring details?"  
"Okay, thank you." Phil said, heading down the corridor. Dan followed him into the unfamiliar kitchen and grabbed onto his shoulder. "Friend, Phil?"  
"Dan, I'm sorry, I just don't want to be discriminated against when buying a house."  
"Come on Phil, it's 2012, as if someone would do something against us! And like I said earlier, they want our money, they're not going to stop us buying the place, or even raise the price, because they'd risk losing us as customers."  
"I panicked Dan, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." Phil looked at the floor, the tips of his ears pink. Dan sighed and lifted Phil's chin. "It's fine, I just wanted to make sure you weren't ashamed of us or anything."  
"What? No!"  
"Phil, it's fine, I promise. Let's just look around. We have another two places to look at after this." Dan kissed Phil softly, just to prove that everything was fine between them, and then took his hand. "Right. Let's get on with it." Dan said, dragging Phil out of the room, and already sounding done with the whole ordeal. Phil chuckled quietly and followed his boyfriend out of the kitchen.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"So, what did you think of that place?" Dan asked as they waited for the bus to the next apartment. Phil pondered his answer. "Well, it was pretty nice, but it seemed a little...I don't know. It just didn't feel right...you know?" He asked, not entirely sure what he meant himself, let expecting alone Dan understanding what he meant. Dan frowned. "Well, I don't really know what you meant, because it didn't make any sense, however, I definitely think we need to see the next place. That one was cold." He looked over at Phil, who was biting his tongue and nodding slightly. Somehow he looked even more cute than usual when he was thinking over things. It was like he suddenly dropped the mask that he always wore, and instead just...existed. It didn't often happen when they were outside the house, or even really when he was inside the house, but Dan liked it when it happened. "I love you." Dan whispered, slipping his hand into Phil's pocket and rubbing circles onto the back of Phil's hand. "I love you too Dan." Phil whispered back, leaning his head on top of Dan's. "Where did that come from?"  
"Not sure," Dan shrugged, "you looked cute."  
"As opposed to my usual weird appearance?"  
"Nope. Cuter than usual, I meant." Dan replied, shoving Phil's shoulder gently with his own. Phil smiled to himself. He would probably never tell Dan this, because he knew that Dan would just disagree and tell him something logical, but he honestly thought that he was the luckiest person alive. Instead of saying any of this, he just let out a dramatically long sigh and stood back up straight. "Where's the bus?"  
"Coming soon." Dan shrugged, pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking the time. They'd finished the first house tour earlier than expected, so they had been a good 10 minutes early for the bus, and they still had about 5 more to wait. Dan was perfectly content to wait patiently for the bus to arrive, but Phil, however, was getting impatient again. "How soon?"  
"About 5 more minutes, would you calm down?"  
"I'm not un-calm." Phil replied with a frown, which made Dan giggle.  
"If you say so."  
"I'm not!" Phil retorted, bouncing up and down. Dan cupped Phil's cheek in his hand and Phil stood still, looking at Dan with wide eyes. "It's just five minutes. You can wait that long." Dan said, bringing Phil forward and kissing him. Phil instantly relaxed, pulling Dan closer. "I can wait." Phil nodded, kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'A new chapter!! Finally!' I hear you all sigh. Kidding of course. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for your continued and unwavering support, it means the world to me.  
> I decided to do each house visit as a separate chapter, as that way they're shorter and I'm more likely to be able to find the time to write it.  
> I've actually had this chapter written for a while, but I have had so many bloody computer issues that it's just been sitting in my files for a month. Plus the fact I had to rewrite it about 3 damn times due to having my laptop repaired and reimaged. Yay technology, amiright?  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I apologise again for the ridiculously long delay, but I am feeling a lot better, and I finally have a computer that can process more than one program at a time!


	13. Right

The bus arrived in just under 5 minutes, to Phil's very obvious relief. "See." Dan said with a sly grin, "I told you it would be five minutes."  
"Of course Daniel, because you are always right."  
"Exactly."  
"Just like that time you were right about hating being on camera."

"Yeah, shut up, that was a one time thing."  
"And," Phil continued, "that time you were right about having ordered the shopping to the right apartment."  
"Shush."  
"Oh, and that one time you were right about-" Dan stopped him with a kiss.  
"Will you please shut up and get on the damn bus?"  
"Right, yeah." Phil smiled at Dan, who was glaring, but grinning at the same time, and jumped up onto the bus. Dan watched for a few seconds before climbing on himself and following Phil to a seat.

He leaned his head on Phil's shoulder and Phil slid his hand into Dan's. "I love you." Dan murmured and Phil smiled. "I know." he replied with a chuckle. Dan huffed and bit Phil's shoulder gently. "Ow!"  
"Your fault."  
"You know I love you, you idiot."  
"Yeah, but-"  
"But?"  
"I dunno."  
"Idiot."  
"Shut up." They laughed, causing an old woman in front of them to turn and shush them. Phil attempted to apologise with a straight face but Dan kept sniggering, which eventually caused her to shuffle off, muttering indignantly about how no-one respected their elders these days and when she was young she'd never have to be told to be quite in a public place. Phil looked over at Dan and Dan shrugged and winked. Phil smiled.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dan pulled his phone out of his pocket as they exited the bus, checking the address of the next house they were visiting. The old lady from before shoved her way past him and Dan pulled a face in her direction. "Snooty old bitch." He muttered, causing Phil to laugh. "Right, according to Apple maps - which is obviously the most reliable source-"  
"Obviously."  
"-it should be around this corner here." He pointed to his left. Phil nodded and began walking. Dan put his phone away and jogged a short distance to catch up. They turned the corner together and found the place they were looking for almost instantly. "Wow. Apple maps was right?!"  
"Looks that way." agreed Phil, as they sat down on the bench in front of the apartment building. "What time did he say he was arriving?"  
"10, and it's only quarter-to now. He'll probably be here soon." Dan said, making himself comfortable on the bench. Phil nodded and lay down, resting his head in Dan's lap. Dan grinned, happy that Phil was already more comfortable about them in front of people. It wasn't like he was scared of people finding out they were a couple, and Dan knew that Phil was only doing what he thought was in their best interests, but he was glad that he was open to being more, well, open. He ran his fingers through Phil's hair, remembering the first time he had seen Phil, watching him in the restaurant - his black hair standing out against the other diners, his blue eyes the only ones in the room that were paying any attention to him. He remembered the jacket with the phone number. The first date, the way he had felt right before the first kiss - as though nothing in the world could ever be as right as kissing the man in the car next to him, and god was he happy he had. He was happy he'd trusted that the phone number was correct and texted Phil that night. He was happy Phil was his.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a man in a jacket clearing his throat above him. Dan jumped, causing Phil to fall off the bench. "Fuck, I'm sorry!" He said, not sure whether it was more directed at his boyfriend who had essentially just thrown on the floor, or the stranger who he had probably been ignoring for a good few minutes while he reminisced. The man chuckled and held out his hand. "No problem. I'm Robin. I'll be showing you the apartment."  
"Nice to meet you, sorry again, I zoned out there." He took Robin's hand and shook it. Phil had composed himself enough to get up off the floor and also shake Robin's hand. "I'm Phil, and he's Dan." He pointed over at Dan.  
"It's nice to meet you both. Are you two a couple?" He asked. Dan looked at Phil, who barely hesitated to reply "Yes." Dan couldn't quite explain the feeling of elation in his stomach at that moment. Robin nodded and turned and walked towards the entrance. "How long have you been an item?"  
"Um,  I'm not entirely sure. Over two years."  
"Bit fast to be moving in together isn't it?"  
"Well, we've been living together for ages, but the place we're in is really small, so we keep arguing about stupid shit, so we decided to find a bigger place."  
"Fair enough." Robin nodded. "My partner and I have been together for five years and we still don't live together. Granted, we may as well honestly, but we don't."  
"Is she okay with that?" Dan asked, trying to sound as though he wasn't uncomfortable with such an open conversation.  
"Oh he's fine with it. I mean, I suggested moving in together a little while back, but he said he wasn't ready, so...yeah-" he shrugged, fishing keys out of his pocket. "Here we are." He unlocked the door and let the two of them through.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Thank you!" Dan shook Robin's hand once more as they left the apartment and headed back to the bus stop. He turned to Phil. "So?"  
"I liked it."  
"So did I."  
"You think that's it?"  
"I think that's it." Dan nodded, leaning against the bus shelter. "Robin was...interesting."  
"I think what I found most interesting was you trying not to seem uncomfortable whilst also trying to hold a conversation."  
"I didn't see you helping."  
"It was too fun to watch."  
"I hate you."  
"Love you too."  
"When's the bus coming?"  
"Half an hour."  
"Half an hour! I'm going to get lunch." Dan pushed himself back off the shelter and began to walk down the street in search of food. "We only have half an hour Dan, and if we miss this bus we miss the train." He called after Dan, who groaned and stomped his foot like a toddler.  
"Can we at least look around for a bit?" He whined. Phil hesitated, not sure if it was the best idea. "Pleeeeaaaaase?"  
"Fine. But we need to be back here in 15 minutes in case they're ahead of schedule."

"Thank you!" Dan ran back and grabbed Phil's arm, pulling him up the street.

They walked together, Phil mostly watching the time while Dan pressed his nose against every shop window they passed, occasionally commenting on whatever it was they sold. Phil just hummed,  looking at the road to see if any busses looked like they were slowing down towards their stop, and then checking the time. He heard Dan say something else, not sure what it was, and hummed his unknowing agreement. Dan's kiss therefore took him by surprise. Dan's fingers wrapped tightly in his hair and Phil melted into Dan's form. Dan pulled back and raised his eyebrow. "Do I have your attention now?" He asked, and Phil nodded, staring into Dan's eyes.  
"Okay, as I was saying, when do you think we should move in?"  
"Well, I was thinking that the apartment is already open, so we can move in whenever, but we should make the offer tomorrow, maybe tonight, and maybe move in at the end of the month?"  
"Sounds good to me." Dan nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket to put in a reminder to make the offer. "Hey, uh, Phil?"  
"Yeah?"  
"We should go." Phil checked the time; well over 20 minutes had passed somehow.  
"Dan!" Phil exclaimed, grabbing Dan and running back to the bus stop. He could see the bus pulling up to the stop. "Come on!" He gave an extra burst of speed, ignoring Dan's wheezing coughs of unfitness.

"And that," Phil said as he humped onto the bus and gave money to the driver, "is why you shouldn't go wondering down the street when you're waiting for the bus."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up and sit down before I eject my lungs out of my chest."

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Well, we found a place." Phil said as he drank the coffee that had been placed on the table in front of him. "Thanks Matt." he added to the waiter who was retreating back into the kitchen.  
"Y'know?" Margie said, leaning over from her table to theirs, "Johnny didn't want you to find a place."  
"Oh?" Dan said, looking over at Johnny who was taking a deliberately long swig of beer.  
"Mmm. I reckon he's gonna miss you two boys coming in here."  
"What're you on about Margie. I'm gonna miss the two of 'em comin' in 'ere. An' I bet you will too."  
"Of course Harry, however I am not the one hoping they won't find the right house. I'm very happy for you by the way." She nodded at the couple, who smiled back, enjoying the usual playful banter of the Green Pea. "We'll miss it here too." Phil piped up, looking around at all the faces that they could now consider their friends. "And we'll definitely come and visit as often as money allows."  
"Good that." Harry nodded, filling up another jug of beer and putting it down on the table in front of Johnny, who took it without saying a word, hiding his face, which Dan assumed was slightly red, and not just because of the alcohol.

No matter how many reasons there were for moving, there were always going to be some for staying, and this place was definitely one of them, but they needed this move. They needed a bigger living space. This would be good for them. Dan knew he was only doubting things because he was nervous, and he knew that this would actually be god for them, but he still couldn't help but think about all the things that could go wrong. He zoned out of the happenings around him, allowing Phil to take charge of the conversations as he began to eat his soup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's school holidays and you know what that means! I had the time to write another short-ish chapter! Whoooo!  
> I've only got seven weeks left of school ever, and that is the most excitingly terrifying prospect I have come across in my life so far. I've got no idea what I'm going to do in the 'real world', but I'm sure I'll work it out. And while I'm working it out I'll probably have more time to write chapters of this train-wreck for you guys! Believe it or not I do actually have a whole story line planned out, it's just that I haven't had the time I've needed to actually sit down and write.  
> Anyway, enough about my life, enjoy this new instalment, and thank you for sticking with me, and if you're new; welcome! I do update, I promise, sometimes it just takes a little while.  
> Love you guys dearly Xx


	14. House Warming

Dan lay awake in the bed that wasn't his, in the large room that wasn't his, and an apartment that wasn't his, in a city that wasn't his. Except it was his. All of it - except the bed. That wasn't his. His bed hadn't arrived yet. Phil was sleeping soundly next to him, his arm draping onto the floor, and gently snoring. Dan sighed. It wasn't that he didn't like the new house, he just wasn't used to it. Like when he had moved in with Phil. He stood up slowly, so as not to wake Phil, and wondered into the kitchen. Or, at least, that was the plan. What he hadn't accounted for was the invisible wall that blocked him from making a cup of cereal. "Ow! What the fuck?" He exclaimed, rubbing his face and glaring at seemingly nothing. "Dan?" Phil called, "Everything alright?"  
"I don't even know. Go back to sleep."  
"If you say so."  
"I thought that shit was only supposed to happen in video games." Dan murmured irritably, reaching out and feeling the coolness of what he now realized was a glass door against his fingertips. He felt around for a while until he found the handle and pushed the door open. "Well, I know what's going to happen to me on a regular basis." He grumbled, sulking to the cereal and pouring some into a mug along with the milk. Not even bothering to grab a spoon he poured it into his mouth and made his way into the living room. They didn't have their TV yet, but they did have the slightly shitty one that came with the house. He sat himself down on the floor and switched on the TV, ignoring the rather green tint in the colour, which made the Doctor look a lot more alien than he was supposed to, and Rose Tyler looked like she was fatally ill.

He sat in silence for a while, partially watching the Doctor Who reruns, and partially staring off into the distance. A loud crash signalled Phil was awake. "What the-?" He heard Phil yell and he had to stop himself from laughing. "Found the invisible kitchen door then?" He called.  
"You think?" He said, appearing in the living room and rubbing his nose. "Is that what you hit before?"  
"Yeah, sorry, you still awake from that?"  
"Yeah. Doesn't matter though."  
"Come watch Doctor Who with me." Dan patted the floor beside him, and Phil obliged, laying down and resting his head on Dan's lap. "It's been a while since we've done this."  
"What, sit and just watch TV?" Dan looked down at Phil, who's eyes were already half closed. He nodded and shuffled into a more comfortable position on Dan's lap, while Dan leaned back on his hands. He could feel Phil's breath deepen and he smiled. He felt a lot more at home out here watching the discoloured TV with Phil asleep on his lap than he had done all day.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

No matter what he did Dan couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He knew that it was most likely because this was a new place, hours from anywhere he had ever lived before, and therefore nowhere near any of his friends. The only person here whom he knew was Phil, and where that was perfectly fine, it was still nice to know you had somewhere to go if things ever went wrong in any way. But he didn't have that any more, and he wasn't exactly the most adept at making friends. He took a deep breath. Everything would be fine. He would get used to this house, and London, and the people here. He would make friends, and he would still keep his old friends. He made videos on the internet, it wasn't as if he had a tied down job that required him to come into an office every day. He could still see his old friends, and he could still contact them whenever. It wasn't as if that had changed.

He grabbed his phone and decided to message PJ to see if he had felt the same when he had moved away.

ME: Hey Peej, you up?

PJ: Yeah, why?

ME: Well, I'm not feeling to hot about moving away now that it's actually happened

PJ: Look, Dan, you know you get anxious in new settings, you'll be fine once you've settled in.

ME: I know that, but knowing doesn't make it any easier.

PJ: Look, I'll come out this weekend. Will that help?

ME: Yeah, thanks Peej

PJ: Any time.

Dan put his phone down on the counter and peeked into the pot on the stove where his dinner - which consisted of noodles - was simmering away. Phil was asleep having stayed up late trying to negotiate with the delivery service, trying to get their stuff to arrive before next month. He had eventually won because the guy on the phone had wanted to go home so he'd said that it would all be here within two weeks. Dan figured he would feel better once their stuff was here and it made it feel more like their home, and not just somewhere they were living. He was grateful Phil had argued for him, but it made him feel guilty that he'd had to stay up late to do so. Phil had said he didn't mind, but Dan still felt guilty.

He poured his noodles into a bowl and took them into the living room, turned on the TV, switching to the most interesting looking channel, which was some strange Irish detective show. He wished they could have stayed back home...no...he wished this had been their home to begin with. He wished that he had never had to move here, and that he and Phil had just always lived here, in this nice, spacey apartment in London. He wished that his friends were here. Most of all he wished that he didn't feel so home sick.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Dan!" He heard Phil calling from outside of the bedroom. He groaned and turned over, trying to get back to sleep. It'd been ages since he'd actually been able to sleep properly, and Phil was going to wake him up from that? God damn it. "Dan!" Phil called again, this time more insistently.  
"Whaaaaat?" He shouted, his voice croaky.  
"Come here please!" Something in his voice made Dan get up. Not willingly, but it made him get up. He plodded down the hall and found Phil waiting at the front door, his arms folded. "Yeah?" Dan asked.  
"Well, I was just coming down here to check the post, and I find a group of people waiting at the door, only two of whom I know, and two of whom are the furniture delivery people. Given that the two people I know are people I met through you, is it safe to assume that these-" he opened the door to reveal a group of people all wearing party hats - including the delivery people who looked less than thrilled about it - were all standing there, "-are yours?" Standing at the front of the group was PJ, who was grinning childishly at him, and Chris, who looked ever so slightly uncomfortable with the situation but was doing a very good job of hiding it. He looked around at the rest of the group, and honestly, he didn't recognise any of them. "Hey, uh, Peej?"  
"Yes?"  
"What's this?"  
"Housewarming party! And look! We came on the same day that your stuff came, which is a nice little coincidence." PJ answered as though this had been planned for weeks and obviously Dan should've known about it.  
"We should probably let the delivery people do what it is they came to do."  
"You're right. Okay, everyone in. We're going to do some decorating!"  
"No, Peej-!" He was cut off by the group of around 8 piling into the house. One of the delivery guys, the taller one, raised an eyebrow at him. Dan shrugged and turned to Phil, who also had his eyebrow raised. "Okay, that was not my idea. I simply asked PJ to come over for the weekend, not bring a housewarming party!"  
"Um, excuse me?" Asked the shorter delivery guy, "What's going on?"  
"Well, we're not entirely sure ourselves. Just bring the furniture in and put it wherever they tell you. We can change it later if we need to." Phil told him. The two guys nodded and headed back to the truck. Dan looked at Phil worriedly, and was very confused when he started laughing. Phil grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bathroom. "Well, this is a bit of a weird series of events." He said, looking at Dan, who still looked concerned. He could have sworn Phil was mad about this about 2 minutes ago, and now he was laughing almost hysterically...maybe he'd gone mad? "Look, Dan, don't worry about it. I'm not angry, I promise. I was surprised, but honestly, did you see the expression on that one delivery guy's face? He was not impressed with the party hat."  
"Still has it on though." Dan giggled, and Phil nodded. He pulled Phil into a hug. "Sorry about that, seriously, wasn't planned."  
"It's cool. We can chuck them all out before 8."  
"Can Peej and Chris stay though?"  
"Yeah. Course." Phil kissed Dan's cheek and pulled away from the hug. "Okay, let's go see what the maniacs are doing to our house." Dan grinned and lead the way out of the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god what's this? A new chapter within two weeks? What is going on here? Well, my dear friends, I don't really know, but it happened, so don't complain!  
> The bit with the house party honestly was not where I was originally going with this chapter, but it happened, so what the hell, go with it.  
> It's 4am here and I have school in 4 hours, and for once I'm more terrified at the prospect of finishing school than I am about going back to it. Can't win can I.  
> Anyway, enough about me. Hope you enjoy this new instalment, thank you very much for reading and sticking with me. I love you all <3


	15. Flashback

Dan stared at his phone, not sure what to do. He couldn't just hang up, partially because then she would know he was around, and partially because that would be rude, and he also couldn't just let it ring out because then she might try again and the buzzing would get incredibly annoying sooner or later. Of course, he could just turn his phone off, but what if someone else tried to contact him? And if she did try and ring back and his phone was switched off she would know he was ignoring her calls. He couldn't really win. "Dan? Who's calling?" Phil asked, looking at him from his side of the couch, where he was editing a new video. Dan jumped and quickly hung up. "No-one. Or at least, no-one I know. Private number." He said quickly, shrugging it off. He knew he was being stupid, and everyone had that one crazy ex who was madly 'in love' with them and wanted to get back together with them and wouldn't ever leave them alone, however his problem was that he had never actually known they were an item, and then when he had found out he had broken up with her immediately, which had been an odd situation to be placed in. She was also, sadly, his only ex. Of course he had to get the crazy one as his only one. He glanced back at Phil who was giving him a weird look. "Dan, you know you can be a really terrible liar sometimes, right?" He said, raising his eyebrow.  
"Coming from you that's a little bit hypocritical." Dan replied. It was true, Phil really was a terrible liar.  
"I never said I was a good liar, I'm just saying that sometimes you are just as bad at it as I am."  
"Okay."  
"So, are you going to tell me who was calling?"  
"Fine. It was....okay this is kind of a long story, and there's no way it would make sense if I cut it short..."  
"I've got time."  
"You've got a video."  
"I've got time." Phil repeated, putting his laptop aside and turning to face Dan. Dan sighed.  
"Okay, well, it was when I was in year 11..."

 

 _"Hey Dan!" a girl who he had never seen before to bounced up to him beside his locker. The first thing Dan noted was that she had an annoyingly squeaky voice. "Hey." He nodded, so as not to be rude. She giggled- why, Dan wasn't sure, but he smiled at her and closed his locker. He was never entirely sure what to do in these situations. It was hard enough holding a conversation with his friends, let alone someone he had never actually seen before. "I'm Chelsea." She twisted her hair around her finger. She already knew his name, so did he introduce himself again, or what? Social cues had never been his forte. "Hey." he said again, the awkward silence almost choking him. "Well, it was nice to meet you, but I have to-" He made an attempt to move past her but she casually stepped to block his path._  
_"To go to rehearsals. I know. I'm in there with you. I knew you'd never noticed me."_  
_"Oh, really? I'm sorry. I tend to keep to myself." He explained, feeling himself go red. She smiled._  
_"I know. Anyway, what I was wondering was if you had time to go over the script with me? I'm really bad at remembering Shakespeare, and you seem to be really good at it, so I was just thinking maybe you could help me?" She asked. "Um, I guess so, yeah. When were you thinking?"_  
_"Tomorrow lunch in the library?"_  
_"Yeah, okay, well, we're going to be late if we don't go, so..." He started walking towards the theatre and she tagged along, making conversation about things Dan wasn't paying any attention to._

_Dan waited for Chelsea in the library with the script in hand. Lunch had only just begun so he wasn't expecting her for another 5 minutes or so. He slumped back in his chair, running over the lines in his head, which had become an automatic pass-time for him. There were only a few other people already in the library - none of whom he recognised, so when a deep voice called his name he jumped. Tom - one of the other members of the drama class, and someone of whom Dan had a massive crush - was standing just in front of him. He was tall and pale, with deep green eyes, and sandy hair which always fell in his eyes, and he spoke with a deep gravelly voice, and he was so kind, and smart, and interesting, and- "Dan?" He said again, snapping Dan out of his trance. "I-um, sorry...yes?" He stuttered.  
_ _"Don't worry. Bad sleep?"  
_ _"Uh, yeah..." Tom chuckled. A deep, heart melting sound that Dan could never resist.  
_ _"I was wondering if you had the maths homework? I forgot to do it last night...scripts and all that." he ran his fingers through his hair. Dan shook his head. "No, sorry, I haven't done it either."  
_ _"Ah well. Guess we're both in trouble." he grinned, and Dan laughed nervously.  
_ _"Yeah. Guess so. Maybe Aaron has it."  
_ _"Maybe. I'll go find him. Thanks anyway Dan."  
_ _"No problem." He stared after Tom, barely noticing when Chelsea entered the room.  
_ _"Hey Dan, you ready?"  
_ _"For?" He asked, still watching Tom's retreating form.  
_ _"Helping me learn my script?"  
_ _"Oh! Right! Yes. Sorry." He said, scrambling to attention. She laughed and sat down.  
_ _"Okay, ready when you are!" She smiled, and Dan grinned back._

 _"_ _Mum?"  
_ _"Yes sweetie?"  
_ _"I've got Chelsea with me. We're just going to go upstairs to do homework and stuff."  
_ _"Alright. Hello Chelsea."  
_ _"Hello Mrs Howell."  
_ _"I'll bring up drinks in a bit."_ _"  
Thanks mum!" Dan called before turning to Chelsea, "Okay, let's go." She nodded and followed him up the stairs to his room. They both got out what they would need for Geography homework, but neither of them bothered to make a start. They knew they wouldn't get very far before getting distracted. "Wanna play video games?"  
_ _"Not really, but I don't mind watching you play them."  
_ _"I really don't understand that. If you like watching them be played, why don't you play them?" He asked, and she shrugged. "Don't know, I just don't."  
_ _"Well, fair enough, I guess. You do you." He shuffled over to his Xbox and loaded Halo. She watched him, not saying anything._

_Chelsea greeted him cheerfully in the carpark, which had become tradition every morning before school. They would go get coffee from across the street, and then come back in time for roll call. She linked arms with him as they entered the café. "Good morning you two." The cashier greeted them. He was there on three of the five mornings they came here, so they were in a mutual acquaintanceship with him. "Morning." Dan greeted, and Chelsea smiled._  
_"The usual?"_  
_"Of course."_  
_"You know, I hope this doesn't seem out of place or something, but you two make a cute couple." He said as he pressed in their order and printed the receipt. "Aw, thank you." Chelsea said, and Dan looked at her, confused. Assuming she was just too nervous to correct him he laughed and turned back to the cashier. "Oh, we're not a couple."_  
_"Yes we are." Chelsea said defiantly._  
_"No we aren't..."_  
_"Can we not do this in here?"_  
_"I'm very sorry if I offended anyone..." The cashier said nervously._  
_"You didn't offend anyone, don't worry." Dan said, still confused._  
_"Daniel, can you come with me for a second?" She didn't wait for his response before dragging him outside. "What the hell do you mean 'not a couple'?"_  
_"I mean, we aren't a couple...I'm not entirely sure what's going on here..."_  
_"We have been together for five months and you go and tell me we aren't?"_  
_"FIVE MONTHS?"_  
_"Why are you so surprised? You knew we were going out!"_  
_"I really had no idea!"_  
_"How could you have not known? Everyone knows!"_  
_"Everyone?"_  
_"Yes Dan! Everyone! Everyone apart from you apparently!"_  
_"Okay, well, Chels, I'm very sorry, but I can't be in a relationship I didn't know I was in."_  
_"Are you seriously breaking up with me?"_  
_"Yeah..." Dan said, still trying to process what was going on. Chelsea clenched her jaw and made a sort of screaming noise before storming off. Dan looked around, wondering if this had been some sort of prank and whether Chelsea would come skipping back laughing and people would jump out holding cameras, but none of that happened. Instead there was just a weird silence. He looked back inside the café where the poor cashier looked as though he was about to cry. Dan gave him an apologetic look before he wondered off down the street._

 _A week later Chelsea came up to him nervously. "Dan? I was wondering if we could get back together?"_  
_"Chelsea, I had no idea we were together in the first place. I can't 'get back together' with someone I never even knew I was with to begin with."_  
_"But..." she sniffled, "But I love you." Dan stared. He really wasn't sure what he was meant to do, and this wasn't exactly the sort of situation you could just look up. "I'm really very sorry Chelsea." He said before he walked past, leaving her crying behind him. He couldn't say he didn't feel bad, because he did, but he just didn't know how else he was meant to handle it. Besides, he couldn't feel that way about her. He was still working on Tom._

 

"...and she just never left me alone after that, saying that we were destined to be together, and calling me, and whatnot." He frowned, still not sure what actually happened eight years ago. Phil looked amused. "Dan, you really are an idiot, do you know that?"  
"How am I an idiot? How was I supposed to know we were dating? Nothing was ever said!"  
"I wasn't even there and it's obvious that you were dating!"  
"How?"  
"It just was! Body language and the sort." He laughed, just as Dan's phone started going off again. "Is that her?"  
"Yeah."  
"Give it to me." Dan handed Phil his phone. "Hello? No, this is Phil. I'm his boyfriend. Yes, boyfriend. Yes, Dan is very, very gay. Always has been. No, no he had a crush on Tom during that period. Yes, Tom. Okay, goodbye." He hung up and laughed at Dan's expression. "Don't worry about it." He said, leaning forward and kissing him. Dan nodded. "Alright, well, thanks...I think"  
"You're welcome." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! How are you all doing? I'm sick at the moment, so that gave me time to write what I guess could be considered a 'filler chapter'.  
> This is actually based on a true story of something that happened to one of my friends, however in that version the guy she had apparently been dating came up to her one lunch and just said "sorry, it's just not working out between us. Let's just stay friends." and she was very confused.  
> Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I am writing a special chapter for when this gets to 5000 hits. So it could be that chapter next, but we shall see!  
> Thank you for reading this and sticking with me, I love you all!


	16. The Story of PJ

PJ awoke to the usual quiet whir of his computer in the corner of his room. He turned over and lifted the curtain slightly to look outside, immediately regretted the decision due to the sudden onset blindness the sun caused, and rolled back over in his bed. His phone buzzed beside him and he groaned, not wanting to bother turning over again just to see what the hell whoever it was wanted. It buzzed again and he pushed it onto the floor. Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz. "Fuck sake!" He shouted, rolling off the edge of the bed and landing on top of the phone, which meant he had to wriggle around awkwardly before he could grab it and answer it. "Yes?" He grumbled.

"Wow. Someone's pissy this morning."  
"The fuck do you want Dan?"  
"Well, if you checked your texts, you would know."  
"I was asleep!"  
"Not my problem. Check your messages!"  
"Dan-" he started, but Dan hung up with a laugh. "Fuck you too then." He sat himself up and was half tempted to just leave his messages unchecked and make himself some breakfast, but he had known Dan long enough to know that he would just call back to tell him to answer his phone. Grumbling to himself he opened his messages, and grumbled even more at the sight of a whole bunch of them lined up from Dan.

DAN: Hey Peej, you up?

DAN: I just got off work, and I think I might have met someone

DAN: Well, at least, he watched me play, spoke to me at the bus stop and lent me his jacket

DAN: Oh my god

DAN: OH MY GOD PEEJ

DAN: THERES A PHONE NUMBER

DAN: Maybe it's his?

DAN: Should I text it?

DAN: Fucking wake up

DAN: I'm gonna do it

DAN: It's been 20 minutes, maybe it wasn't his phone number

DAN: PJ LIGOURI WOULD YOU PLEASE WAKE UP I AM HAVING A CRISIS

DAN: I fucking hate you

DAN: HOLY SHIT HE TEXTED ME BACK

DAN: His name is Phil

DAN: I love him

Pj sighed and tried to get his brain to think up a reasonable response.

ME: You just met him Dan, at least organise a date first.

DAN: We did! Today! Oh my god I literally cannot wait

ME: Well, you're going to have to. I'm going to make breakfast now. Have fun with Phil

He tossed his phone back onto the bed and wondered whether it would be easier to get up and walk into the kitchen, or whether he should just crawl.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He plugged his headphones into his phone and played music loudly. He locked the door behind him and just walked. He had nowhere he wanted to go, and nowhere he had to be, and nothing he had to do, so he just walked. It was almost lunchtime, so people were crowding into the cafés and pastry shops that lined the street. He'd just had breakfast less than 20 minutes ago, but it was lunch time! "Live by the clock Peej." He shrugged, turning into the closest coffee shop and examining the menu from the back of the line.

He quickly sat down at an empty table as soon as he ordered, not wanting to lose the opportunity to sit down as the people piled in. He rested his head on the table and closed his eyes, not having realised how tired he still was. "Um, excuse me?" A voice said nearby. He looked up and blinked. A guy stood awkwardly next to the table looking at him. "Yeah?"  
"Well, it's just that, well, that's my table." He had a strong northern accent, and he looked a little uncomfortable with the situation, but at the same time, somehow, he also looked rather sure of himself. "Are you okay?" He asked, and PJ almost jumped. "Yes, sorry, I zoned out." He stood up quickly, almost knocking over the chair. He stumbled up to the counter, where they were just bringing out his order. "PJ?" The girl called and he grabbed the items, thanking her and rushing out of the café. He wasn't sure why he had gotten so flustered over that. He walked past the window and looked inside at the guy, who was now reading a book with a cup of what looked like hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in a mug on the table in front of him. PJ smiled. That was adorable. Wait. "God damn it PJ. Just walk away dude!" He said to himself, forcing himself to leave the shop window and continue his way down the street, slowly eating his BLT sandwich.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The TV blared in the background as PJ tapped his pencil against the paper. Somehow he had found himself with a rough sketch of a chibi-fied version of the guy he had 'met' earlier. He hadn't been able to get his image out of his head, and it was getting a little bit ridiculous. He was acting like a middle-schooler with a crush. But he couldn't have a crush on a guy who asked for his table back over 7 hours ago. He also couldn't have a crush on a guy full-stop. He had had nothing but girlfriends his entire life, and he had never wanted anything different. So what the hell was going on with this guy? Maybe it was just because he had been tired and the guy had somewhat startled him and he'd become flustered, and his brain was just confused. That had to be it, right? He shook it off and looked down at the picture he'd drawn. "Right, that isn't helping anything." He muttered, tearing it out and crumpling it into a ball. "Okay, time to get over yourself." He threw it into the bin, and took himself to bed.

Instead of sleeping, however, his head was flooded with confusing thoughts. There was no reasonable reason for any of this to be in his mind. "You stole his table, he asked for it back, you freaked out, and you lingered. STOP LINGERING!" He told himself angrily, tossing onto his side and throwing his pillow over his head. "You, PJ Liguori are a linger-er." He muttered, stilling momentarily to see if his head was clear, upon the discovery that it wasn't he kicked his legs around, groaning and hitting his head with the pillow. "God dammit!" He eventually shouted, launching himself out of bed and storming over to the wardrobe. He threw on his jumper and contemplated putting proper trousers on. "Fuck it." He said finally, before stomping out of the house and slamming the door behind him.

There was nothing that irritated him more than someone who assumed they were in love 20 seconds after they had met someone, and suddenly he had found himself in that exact position. Expect he wasn't just in love with someone he had just met, he was in love with some guy he had just met. Of course, he had no issue with gays; he'd known Dan was gay before Dan did, and he'd never had even the slightest issue with it. However, he was not gay. He had never been gay, and he never would be gay, so why the hell was he so infatuated with this guy who asked for his bloody table back? And drunk hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. And brown hair. And hazel eyes. And "oh my god PJ quit it!"  
"Quit what?" A voice asked. He vaguely recognised it, turning around to face the guy who he had literally not stopped thinking about all day. "Oh, um....I said that out loud?" He asked, frowning. The guy laughed.  
"I met you earlier, huh? I'm Chris." He held out his hand and PJ took it. His hands were warm and slightly rough.  
"PJ." He responded. Chris smiled.  
"I like that name. Want to go get coffee?"  
"Sure."

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"And you were wearing pyjamas?"  
"Yes!" PJ whined, throwing himself onto the couch.  
"What the hell kind of teen drama are you a part of?" Dan laughed, crossing his legs and leaning back on his chair. "Like, what kind of coincidence is that? That shit just does not happen in real life!" Dan continued to laugh as PJ groaned into a cushion. "Look, man, it's not as if they're obviously pyjamas. They don't exactly have fluffy bunnies sleeping on pink clouds. He may not have even realised."  
"That's not the point Dan!"  
"Then what is the point PJ?"  
"I-...I...I don't know okay!" He rolled over and threw his arms over his head. "Fuuuucking hell." Dan attempted to hold back his giggles. Clearly he was finding the situation incredibly amusing. "Did you get his number at least?" Dan asked, and PJ's face went even more red - if that was possible. He simply nodded and threw his phone at Dan. "Please tell me he put his contact in, and not you?"  
"Yeah, he did, why?"  
"Have you looked at it?"  
"No..." Dan threw the phone back and PJ glanced at the contact details: '<3 Chris <3'. "Oh my god."  
"Oh my god indeed." Dan nodded.  
"I'm going to call him." PJ said suddenly, lifting himself off the couch.  
"Do you want to look desperate?"  
"Yes." PJ nodded, dialling the number and pacing around the floor. Dan watched in amusement. He had to say, his situation with Phil was far simpler than PJ's situation with this Chris. And speaking of, he would have to meet this Chris. See if he was a suitable match for PJ's first boyfriend.  
"Hey! Yeah, um, it's Peej...PJ, sorry, we met earlier?"  
"Oh hello there PJ. Calling a little early aren't we?"  
"But it's 9PM..."  
"I meant a little early after we last saw each other love." PJ went bright red.  
"Well, yeah, sorry, I just wanted to check to see if your number was correct..." He glared over at Dan who was raising his eyebrow and shaking his head.  
"Well, it is, and now I know you're going to call, so, I was wondering, if you would like to go on a date with me this weekend?" He said the last part slowly and PJ had to stop himself from squealing like a child.  
"This weekend? Yeah, no, that sounds good."  
"Great. I'll text you the details later?"  
"Yes. Thank you. See you soon."  
"Bye bye PJ." He hung up the phone and turned to Dan, who was giving him a questioning look.  
"I got a date!" He all but screamed, turning and jumping back onto the couch.  
"I guess this guy has a thing for pyjamas then." PJ threw a pillow at him.  
"Oh my god shut the fuck up!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I'm going to be busy over the next few days, and we're almost at 5000 hits, I thought I would upload this now.  
> Here is the story of PJ and Chris. The beginning of it anyway. If you guys want more on this I can write Peej's side of the story every so often. It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it!  
> In other news: oh my god guys, I just graduated! High school is finished and now I must find other things to occupy my time. This gives me a lot more time to write, and also a lot less stress. I'm still terrified of the unknown of the future, but, one step at a time right?  
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it! See you guys next time!


	17. Better than Christmas

Snow piled on the windowsill outside the bedroom. Phil smiled to himself, the joy of Christmas filling him just as it would a child. He bounced up and down, the lure of the presents almost too strong. He skipped his way down the hallway to their bedroom where Dan was still sound asleep. He didn't even hesitate before shaking Dan awake. "What?" Dan groaned, rolling over to face him. "It's Christmas!" He giggled, sounding a lot younger than 28. Dan couldn't help but laugh. He sat up and pulled Phil down into a kiss. "Y'know, sometimes, you are far too cute for your own good." Phil attempted to pout, but he was too busy grinning to hold it for long. "Let me make coffee, then we can open presents." Phil nodded and skipped back out of the room. Dan glanced over at his bedside table, took a deep breath, then got up.

Phil was perched on the edge of the couch, grinning at Dan who walked in with his coffee and took a seat on the couch beside him. "Can we start?" He asked eagerly. Dan nodded and Phil practically flung himself off the chair and at the presents. Dan slid down to the floor so he was sitting besides Phil, who already had a pile of wrapping paper in front of him. "Attack on Titan! Dan! Now we can watch it!"  
"We could have watched it before, Phil, just not entirely legally." Dan pointed out, and Phil attempted a scowl, but his excited grin was too plastered to his face for it to be in any way effective. In fact it just looked kind of amusing. Dan picked up one of his presents, absent-mindedly unwrapping it, too caught up looking at the delight on Phil's face to really pay attention. He knew Phil loved Christmas, in fact it was his favourite thing, and not just because of the presents. He knew Phil loved the way Christmas feels. The way the streets were decorated in lights and tinsel, and the way everyone seemed so cheerful, and the way that the snow seemed even more white and beautiful than it usually does, and the way that, for one day, he could be a child again.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"You wanna go out for lunch?" Dan asked, looking over at Phil who was looking through an assortment of new movies he had received. Phil looked over, not even hesitating to nod enthusiastically. "Where?" He asked. Dan paused, pretending to think about where they could go, even though he already knew where he wanted to go. "The Green Pea?" he asked, and Phil smiled. "Yes! I miss those guys! I hope it hasn't changed too much."  
"I doubt it." Dan said, looking down at his phone. "Taxi?"  
"Taxi." Phil agreed. They stood up, Phil went to the bathroom to take a shower, and Dan went to the bedroom. He grabbed his jacket, listened to make sure Phil was definitely getting into the shower, and opened the bedside drawer. Inside lay a small, blue, velvet box. He took a shaky breath before picking it up and quickly putting it into the pocket of his coat. Thank god for cold English weather calling for thick coats.

He had been planning this for months. He knew he wanted to do it Christmas day because that was Phil's favourite day of the year, and he knew he wanted to do it at the Green Pea because that's where they had their first date. He still wasn't sure what he'd say, and he hoped to god that he'd have the nerve, especially considering all the guys at the Green Pea knew of this plan. He didn't think he'd be able to live it down if he wussed out.

He heard Phil open the bathroom door and Dan quickly shut the drawer, stepping away from it. "You ready?" Phil asked, his hair gently plastered to his face with water. Dan grinned and nodded, taking Phil's waiting hand, his other hand gripping the box tightly, and walking out of the apartment.

"You okay Dan? You seem out of it." Phil noted as they sat in the back of the taxi. Dan jumped his attention back to Phil. "Hm? Yeah, sorry, just distracted."  
"By?"  
"Christmas."  
"Ah. Christmas is very distracting." He nodded wisely, making Dan chuckle.  
"I love you."  
"I love you too."

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They entered the Green Pea, the familiar smell making them both smile. "Af'ernoon boys! Wha' a surprise to see you 'ere!" The bartender greeted them cheerfully, the thick accent the same as always. "Afternoon!" Dan greeted, his cheeks going slightly red when Harry winked at him from the bar. Phil didn't notice, greeting them all with a hearty "Merry Christmas!" And heading over to their usual table. "Do you guys decorate for Christmas?" Phil asked, noticing the candles that were flickering in the centre of the tables. "Who doesn't decorate for Christmas?" Harry asked, pouring out two mugs of eggnog. James, the waiter, brought it over to them, not asking what they wanted, simply turning to the kitchen and shouting "Dan and Phil!"  
"I think they know us a little too well." Dan laughed, Phil nodded, giggling and happily drinking his eggnog.  
"Why is eggnog only a Christmas drink?" He mused, licking his lips happily. Dan shrugged, absently dipping his hand into his pocket and stroking the box. "I'm not sure."  
"Y'know Dan, there's only one thing that I love more than Christmas."  
"And that is?"  
"You." Phil said, his cheeks flushing pink. Dan felt his stomach erupt with butterflies. His throat went tight, and in the corner of his eye he caught Harry motioning to him. Dan swallowed thickly, took a long sip of his drink, and looked Phil dead in the eyes. "Phil, I'm not going to lie, before you, I never really had a long term relationship, and I never really understood what love was, but since I met you, I don't think anyone understands the word more than I do." He could feel his hands shaking in his lap. "You infuriate me more than anybody else in this entire world is capable of doing, and yet I have never met anyone who makes me so happy. Sometimes I wish I could hate you, but I can't help but love you." Phil was looking confused, but he was smiling widely. "What I'm trying to say is, Phil, you are the best thing that could ever happen to me, and you are they only thing that I ever want to happen to me." He pulled the box out of his pocket, "I want to be yours forever, and I want you to be mine...Phil-" He opened the box, and before he could say the rest of his sentence Phil was pulling him to his feet and into a rib crushing hug. "Is that a yes?" He whispered, and Phil pulled back, blinking away tears, and nodding ecstatically. "You're the only person who could make Christmas even better." Phil laughed, hugging Dan again. Dan couldn't stop the smile on his face if he wanted to. If it weren't for the fact that the entire café  burst into cheers and applause Dan would probably have forgotten that they were even there, absorbed in his own world with Phil by his side. Phil took the box and looked at the simple, silver ring with the small diamond glinting in the light. He handed the box to Dan, holding out his left hand. Dan chuckled and slid the ring onto his finger. "There. Now it's official. You are mine."  
"As if I could be anyone else's."  
"I love you Phil."  
"I love you too Dan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas fluff omg!!  
> Sorry that there hasn't been a chapter in so long. I had a rather severe case of writer's block, and everything I wrote just sounded awful in my head so I'd have to delete it and start again. Quality over quantity right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as it is my gift to you guys for everything you do for me. Honestly that wasn't at all where I was planning on going with this chapter, but hey, Dan and Phil cuteness!  
> Enjoy your Christmas guys! Love you all Xx

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for any errors - I'm pretty terrible at proof reading.  
> Tell me what you think, it would be much appreciated!  
> I plan to try and upload a chapter every other week, though that probably won't happen...


End file.
